Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Trimmed by W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.

W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,817 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 589 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.8% of W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. W.H. Cornerstone Investments Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,216,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $110,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $196.79 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $219.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.08. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.