Willner & Heller LLC Decreases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Willner & Heller LLC decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,757 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 347 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.3% of Willner & Heller LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Willner & Heller LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $239.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $234.03.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Profile

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.