Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Aspiriant LLC’s 8th Largest Position

Aspiriant LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 300,142 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,409 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.7% of Aspiriant LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $75,162,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.88.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $227.48 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.11, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.08 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $237.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $234.16. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.