Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Cut by Baskin Financial Services Inc.

Baskin Financial Services Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 383,836 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,253 shares during the period. Apple comprises 6.7% of Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Baskin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $73,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Apple by 6.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,709 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Apple by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,605,195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,576 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,020,609,000 after acquiring an additional 287,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Apple by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 14,616,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,502,541,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Redburn Partners lowered shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.05.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $166.90 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.80 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The company’s 50 day moving average is $173.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.03. The company has a market cap of $2.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

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.