Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Decreases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 115,384 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,336 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.2% of Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,895,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 5,575,218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,396,146,000 after acquiring an additional 213,180 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 114.4% in the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 398,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $99,873,000 after acquiring an additional 212,762 shares during the period. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC increased its stake in Apple by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 21,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,435,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP raised its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 68,478 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,148,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in Apple by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 820,871 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $205,563,000 after purchasing an additional 75,166 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Wedbush cut their price target on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was 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 worth $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $199.74 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $217.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $229.69. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.92 and a 52-week 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 cap of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.