Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Cullinan Associates Inc.’s Largest Position

Cullinan Associates Inc. cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 749,993 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 34,527 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 8.1% of Cullinan Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $144,396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the third quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after buying an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $29,589,000 after acquiring an additional 20,737 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after purchasing an additional 10,425 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after purchasing an additional 279,311 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Piper Sandler Companies downgraded Apple to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $220.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price target on Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.05.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $169.30 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The business’s 50-day moving average is $173.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $181.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.