Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Decreased by Means Investment CO. Inc.

Means Investment CO. Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 396,538 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 15,208 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 11.0% of Means Investment CO. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Means Investment CO. Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $76,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the 3rd 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 period. RFG Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,589,000 after buying an additional 20,737 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Apple by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425 shares during the period. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS increased its stake in Apple by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after acquiring an additional 279,311 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $169.30 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $199.62. The company has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $181.63.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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 business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Maxim Group began coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $202.62.

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.