Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 92,775 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,028,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 92,775 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $257,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 3.9 %

AAPL opened at $194.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $220.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.53. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple 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 directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.85.

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.