Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,713 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 675 shares during the period. Deroy & Devereaux Private Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $217.90 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $230.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS 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%. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.52.

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.