Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Cut by Bill Few Associates Inc.

Bill Few Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 91,615 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,028 shares during the period. Apple makes up 8.1% of Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,757 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,104,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,573 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,649,000 after acquiring an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,603,000 after acquiring an additional 2,425 shares during the last quarter. Echo45 Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Echo45 Advisors LLC now owns 9,093 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,213,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 62,732 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple 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 value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 3.4 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $209.68 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $235.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.28, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Apple to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.22.

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.