Proffitt & Goodson Inc. Sells 318 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Proffitt & Goodson Inc. cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 318 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 0.7% of Proffitt & Goodson Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Proffitt & Goodson Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,709 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,605,195,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,020,609,000 after buying an additional 287,329 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.05.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $169.30 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a PEG ratio of 2.04 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. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.83.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.