Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Hoffman Alan N Investment Management

Hoffman Alan N Investment Management cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 417,699 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,362 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 47.2% of Hoffman Alan N Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Hoffman Alan N Investment Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $104,600,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capstone Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 40.8% during the fourth quarter. Capstone Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 14,735 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,690,000 after buying an additional 4,270 shares during the last quarter. KWB Wealth raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. KWB Wealth now owns 17,109 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,986,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Sharper & Granite LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Sharper & Granite LLC now owns 15,302 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,832,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 68,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,257,000 after purchasing an additional 6,004 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crane Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Crane Advisory LLC now owns 80,579 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $19,610,000 after buying an additional 2,108 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $247.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $240.26 and a 200 day moving average of $233.34. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.21, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s payout ratio is 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.