North Growth Management Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

North Growth Management Ltd. trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,000 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.8% of North Growth Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. North Growth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,253,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 12.8% during the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,505,000 after purchasing an additional 3,935 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Apple by 2.5% in the third quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $64,492,000 after buying an additional 6,711 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $240.26.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $198.15 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) 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, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Company 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.