Copeland Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Copeland Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 97,466 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 15,517 shares during the quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at $110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.52.

Apple Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $217.90 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $230.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.43. 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 posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.