Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s 2nd Largest Position

Griffin Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 208,266 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 15,435 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.6% of Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $36,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 259,894,947 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,670,642,000 after acquiring an additional 5,732,451 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 128,279,150 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $18,151,501,000 after acquiring an additional 2,419,441 shares in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 69,224,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,795,295,000 after acquiring an additional 759,577 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 38,254,461 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,413,006,000 after acquiring an additional 197,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 37,075,583 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,246,196,000 after acquiring an additional 414,835 shares in the last quarter. 57.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of Apple stock opened at $170.09 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $162.98. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.25 and a 12 month high of $182.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.78 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.16, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 27th. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.21. Apple had a return on equity of 149.81% and a net margin of 26.58%. The business had revenue of $123.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 7th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 4th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.57%.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Friday, January 28th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Apple from $165.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Apple from $165.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, January 19th. Finally, Fundamental Research upped their target price on Apple from $164.79 to $179.32 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.43.

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 1,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.29, for a total transaction of $344,153.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.78, for a total value of $4,369,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 162,085 shares of company stock valued at $28,728,085. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Profile (Get Rating)

Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.

See Also