Cutler Investment Counsel LLC Increases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the quarter. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wedbush lowered their target price on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.17.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $204.57 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $166.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $217.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $229.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS 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 given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.