DT Investment Partners LLC Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

DT Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 18.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,912 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 9,718 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 0.9% of DT Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. DT Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $10,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CFC Planning Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $6,205,000. Squire Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 7.5% during the fourth quarter. Squire Investment Management Company LLC now owns 6,371 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,164,000. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 13,627 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,301,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palacios Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $3,092,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $2.52 on Friday, hitting $196.79. 51,328,536 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,825,645. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.77 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm's 50-day moving average is $219.65 and its 200 day moving average is $230.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $250.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.85.

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.