Slow Capital Inc. Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Slow Capital Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 88,014 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,339 shares during the period. Apple makes up 3.1% of Slow Capital Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Slow Capital Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its holdings in Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after buying an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,505,000 after buying an additional 3,935 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $218.27 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $231.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.26. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Analysts anticipate 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. Investors 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 yield of 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.65.

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.