Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. Sells 28,695 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 941,021 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 28,695 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.9% of Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Montrusco Bolton Investments Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $235,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Four investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.65.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $220.73 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $231.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.41. The company has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

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.