Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Hartline Investment Corp

Hartline Investment Corp decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 262,525 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,293 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 7.5% of Hartline Investment Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Hartline Investment Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $65,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $198.15 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week 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. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.50%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, 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, February 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other 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 value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.