Monte Financial Group LLC Sells 232 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Monte Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,847 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. Monte Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $214.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.97, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $233.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $233.71. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10.

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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Apple to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Four research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.22.

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.