Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Has $249.24 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 995,287 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 6,125 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 8.2% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $249,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 10.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 6.5% in 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 period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $245.55. 53,102,300 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 49,742,392. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $240.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $232.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Maxim Group raised their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $244.85.

Apple Company 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.