Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Ashford Capital Management Inc.

Ashford Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,710 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Ashford Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $651,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 243,057 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,592,000 after purchasing an additional 9,764 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 149,129 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $20,610,000 after purchasing an additional 24,823 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 76,478 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,572,000 after purchasing an additional 3,441 shares during the period. WA Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. WA Asset Management LLC now owns 136,066 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $18,804,000 after purchasing an additional 24,112 shares during the period. Finally, Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 16,293 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,252,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, March 10th. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $160.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Cowen dropped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Apple from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.24.

Apple Stock Up 1.4 %

AAPL stock opened at $152.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $144.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.33. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $179.61. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a return on equity of 163.45% and a net margin of 24.56%. The firm had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Investors of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.60%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.62%.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.