Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Trimmed by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 438,289 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 49,345 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.2% of Grimes & Company Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $109,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fenimore Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 13,773 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,449,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 33,119 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,294,000 after buying an additional 537 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Apple by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 50,600 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,671,000 after buying an additional 2,422 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 182,372 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $45,669,000 after acquiring an additional 7,674 shares during the period. Finally, Aspiring Ventures LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $1,747,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $214.00 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.08 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $233.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.71.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.22.

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.