Hoffman Alan N Investment Management Decreases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hoffman Alan N Investment Management reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 417,699 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,362 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 47.2% of Hoffman Alan N Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Hoffman Alan N Investment Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $104,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson set a $290.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.88.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $247.04 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $240.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.21, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s 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.