Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Beech Hill Advisors Inc.

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,347 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 877 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 3.8% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 2.9% in the second quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,969 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,363,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. RS Crum Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 57.0% during the 2nd quarter. RS Crum Inc. now owns 22,974 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,839,000 after purchasing an additional 8,343 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 7.0% during the 2nd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 102,706 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,632,000 after purchasing an additional 6,689 shares in the last quarter. Hardin Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,083,000. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 29.0% during the 2nd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 26,931 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,672,000 after purchasing an additional 6,060 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.88.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $241.76 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $239.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $233.58.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, 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 is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.