Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Carret Asset Management LLC’s Largest Position

Carret Asset Management LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 337,029 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,765 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 8.5% of Carret Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $78,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during 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. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $206,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.47.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $259.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $237.00 and its 200-day moving average is $227.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is 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.