Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 995,287 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,125 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 8.2% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $249,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Latitude Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $245.55 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $240.47 and its 200-day moving average is $232.55. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.