Legacy Trust Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Legacy Trust cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 85,502 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,106 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.0% of Legacy Trust’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Legacy Trust’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. State Street Corp lifted 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 period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Maxim Group increased their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.65.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $223.75 on Wednesday. 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 of $231.35 and a 200-day moving average of $233.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 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, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.