Guardian Investment Management Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Guardian Investment Management decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 95,869 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,860 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 16.6% of Guardian Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

Apple Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $239.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $237.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $234.03. 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 $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.95, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued 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 yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

About Apple

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.