Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Trimmed by Hartline Investment Corp

Hartline Investment Corp lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 262,525 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,293 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 7.5% of Hartline Investment Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $65,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays raised their price target on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.26.

Apple Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $198.15 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company’s fifty day moving average is $222.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $231.16. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.