Bridges Investment Management Inc. Has $184.51 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 958,322 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,827 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 6.1% of Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $184,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $487,435,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after buying an additional 2,826,709 shares during the last quarter. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $461,021,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $169.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.33, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $173.58 and its 200 day moving average is $181.94. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $162.80 and a 12 month high of $199.62.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.95%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Redburn Partners cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, January 18th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

About Apple

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.