Saratoga Research & Investment Management Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Saratoga Research & Investment Management trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 332,200 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 19,933 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 3.4% of Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Saratoga Research & Investment Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $77,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $244.60 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % 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, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.