Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Gould Asset Management LLC CA

Gould Asset Management LLC CA lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 195 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.2% of Gould Asset Management LLC CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Gould Asset Management LLC CA’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,626,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Robinson Value Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 75.4% in the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP boosted its position in Apple by 200.0% in the third quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new stake in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Cowen lowered their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Apple from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Apple from $153.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.24.

Apple Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $152.59 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $179.61. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $144.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.67 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 163.45% and a net margin of 24.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were issued 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.