Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Lowered by Boston Trust Walden Corp

Boston Trust Walden Corp cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,856,306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 99,096 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.3% of Boston Trust Walden Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Boston Trust Walden Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $464,856,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. 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 boosted its position 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 worth $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Maxim Group increased their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.52.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $223.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $230.55 and a 200-day moving average of $233.43. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.43, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.