Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.

Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,009 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 165 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.1% of Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Prentiss Smith & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $220.73 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $231.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.41. 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 company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Loop Capital cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.