Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc.

Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 108,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,334 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 12.0% of Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Stratos Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 103,769 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $25,986,000 after acquiring an additional 3,449 shares during the last quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 50,685 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,692,000 after purchasing an additional 742 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 15.0% during the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 178,954 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $41,947,000 after purchasing an additional 23,389 shares during the last quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,394 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,870,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Guidance Capital Inc. now owns 6,573 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $188.38 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $229.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $232.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. 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 1-year low of $164.08 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.26.

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.