Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Conway Capital Management Inc.

Conway Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,755 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. Apple comprises 17.5% of Conway Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Conway Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $39,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 6.6% in the third 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 acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This 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 link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $213.49 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $234.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $233.73. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.89, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their target price on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.22.

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.