White Pine Capital LLC Reduces Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

White Pine Capital LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,428 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,419 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.4% of White Pine Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. White Pine Capital LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $13,129,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $2.52 on Friday, hitting $196.79. 51,328,536 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,825,645. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.77 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company's 50 day moving average price is $219.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup dropped their target price on Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.85.

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.