Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Has $75.54 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 301,667 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,881 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.5% of Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $75,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 345,634 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $86,554,000 after buying an additional 7,570 shares during the last quarter. ADE LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. ADE LLC now owns 15,329 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,839,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. TB Alternative Assets Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,169,000. Perpetual Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 28.6% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 78,057 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $19,547,000 after buying an additional 17,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 31,616 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,917,000 after buying an additional 3,283 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $227.48 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $237.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $234.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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 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 yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. 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. Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.