Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,341,508 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,364 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.9% of DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $336,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the period. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners lifted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,505,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.52.

Apple Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $217.90 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $230.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.