Salomon & Ludwin LLC Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Salomon & Ludwin LLC decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,521 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,746 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.6% of Salomon & Ludwin LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Salomon & Ludwin LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $14,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Apple by 21.1% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 3,380,064 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $787,631,000 after acquiring an additional 588,427 shares in the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,016,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 90,642 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $21,120,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 3.1% during the third quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 86,245 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $20,095,000 after acquiring an additional 2,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.5 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $205.65. 8,306,687 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,633,127. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $217.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.52. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $166.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $230.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $233.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.