Kimelman & Baird LLC Sells 4,861 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kimelman & Baird LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 308,098 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,861 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.7% of Kimelman & Baird LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Kimelman & Baird LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $71,787,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at $110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.2 %

AAPL opened at $232.62 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $3.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.92, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $241.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $231.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.