Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Lessened by AMI Asset Management Corp

AMI Asset Management Corp lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 534,873 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,201 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 7.1% of AMI Asset Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. AMI Asset Management Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $133,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

Apple Trading Down 4.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $227.48 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $237.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $234.16. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s 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.