Morton Capital Management LLC CA Sells 2,001 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Morton Capital Management LLC CA lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,498 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,001 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.0% of Morton Capital Management LLC CA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Morton Capital Management LLC CA’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in Apple by 1.8% in 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 valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $241.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $239.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.67.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

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.