Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Decreased by Platt Investment Counsel LLC

Platt Investment Counsel LLC trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,375 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 112 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 0.3% of Platt Investment Counsel LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Platt Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 5.3% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 6.6% in 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 buying an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $235.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $238.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.93.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

About Apple

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.