Salomon & Ludwin LLC Sells 2,746 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Salomon & Ludwin LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,521 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,746 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.6% of Salomon & Ludwin LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Salomon & Ludwin LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $196.79 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $219.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $230.13. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.77 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. 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 the business’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple 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 in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James increased their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Citigroup decreased 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. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.85.

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.