Martin Capital Partners LLC Sells 1,236 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Martin Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 37.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,236 shares during the quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.8% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after buying an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,505,000 after acquiring an additional 3,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management lifted its position in Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $64,492,000 after acquiring an additional 6,711 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $188.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. 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 Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.08 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $229.45 and its 200-day moving average is $232.96.

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 research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $245.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.