Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Trimmed by Sachetta LLC

Sachetta LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,565 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,703 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.1% of Sachetta LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Sachetta LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $213.49 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $234.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.82. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued 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 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple 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 issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.22.

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.