Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is White Pine Capital LLC’s Largest Position

White Pine Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,428 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,419 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.4% of White Pine Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. White Pine Capital LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $196.79 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $219.65 and its 200 day moving average is $230.08.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James raised their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.