True North Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

True North Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,389 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,175 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 6.7% of True North Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,066,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Summit Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 16,252.3% during the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 6,949,659 shares during the period. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 21.7% during the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.2 %

Apple stock opened at $165.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.80 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The company has a 50 day moving average of $174.67 and a 200-day moving average of $182.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.34.

Apple Company 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.