Grant Street Asset Management Inc. Sells 96 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Grant Street Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,256 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 96 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.0% of Grant Street Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Grant Street Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,937,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Headinvest LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after acquiring an additional 279,311 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 673,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,284,000 after purchasing an additional 24,634 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $173.03 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $172.15 and a 200 day moving average of $181.57. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 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.