Olstein Capital Management L.P. Sells 1,500 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Olstein Capital Management L.P. reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.22.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $214.00 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $233.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, 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%. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.