Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Boosted by Spinnaker Trust

Spinnaker Trust increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 222,468 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 3,905 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 3.5% of Spinnaker Trust's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Spinnaker Trust's holdings in Apple were worth $55,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,249,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Family Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $263.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $6.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $205.83. The stock had a trading volume of 13,793,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,640,486. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $217.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.69. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.92 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.67, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. 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 (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, beating 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 anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.