Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Sarasin & Partners LLP’s 2nd Largest Position

Sarasin & Partners LLP lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,763,435 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 41,062 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 7.6% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $692,019,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth about $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after buying an additional 7,606 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its position in Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares in 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 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $239.07 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $237.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $234.03.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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 $0.25 dividend. 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 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

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.