Boltwood Capital Management Trims Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Boltwood Capital Management trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,858 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,169 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.4% of Boltwood Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Boltwood Capital Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,978,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $244.60 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $240.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.75. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS 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%. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Apple 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.