Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Redwood Investments LLC

Redwood Investments LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 41,374 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,681 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.1% of Redwood Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Redwood Investments LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Apple by 20.0% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $456,728,000 after purchasing an additional 435,891 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Markel Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after purchasing an additional 8,450 shares during the last quarter. Camden Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 9.2% during the first quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $167.04 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.80 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The company’s fifty day moving average is $175.15 and its 200-day moving average is $182.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Redburn Partners downgraded shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.34.

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.