DDD Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

DDD Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 164,623 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 11,383 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 5.1% of DDD Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. DDD Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $41,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Pathway Financial Advisors LLC now owns 23,051 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,495 shares during the last quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Meridiem Investment Management Ltd. now owns 13,865 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,472,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Monument Capital Management increased its stake in Apple by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 34,393 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,613,000 after purchasing an additional 3,437 shares in the last quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Spectrum Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 33,378 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,358,000 after buying an additional 9,785 shares during the period. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 198,299 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $49,658,000 after buying an additional 1,123 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $208.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,722,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,689,747. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm's 50-day moving average is $216.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $229.42. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $168.15 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.04, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $263.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $233.88.

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.