Austin Asset Management Co Inc Sells 892 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Austin Asset Management Co Inc reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,256 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 892 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.3% of Austin Asset Management Co Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Austin Asset Management Co Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $198.85 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $224.31 and its 200 day moving average is $231.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.56, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.08 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Raymond James increased their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.26.

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.