Quilter Plc Sells 20,975 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Quilter Plc cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,118,355 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 20,975 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.5% of Quilter Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Quilter Plc’s holdings in Apple were worth $280,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple during the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $198.15 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $222.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, analysts forecast 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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. KeyCorp cut their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $263.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.26.

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.