Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lowered by Worth Asset Management LLC

Worth Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 21.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,644 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,150 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.5% of Worth Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Worth Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price target on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

AAPL opened at $244.47 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.80, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $240.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.94.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

About Apple

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.