Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Maryland Capital Advisors Inc.

Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 40.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,357 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 48,243 shares during the period. Apple makes up 8.4% of Maryland Capital Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,120,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $263.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.85.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $196.79 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.77 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market capitalization 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $219.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over 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.

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.