Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by BTC Capital Management Inc.

BTC Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 204,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,880 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.7% of BTC Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. BTC Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $51,175,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Apple by 10.6% during 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 raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 6.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $223.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.36 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $230.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. 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 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.65.

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.