Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s Largest Position

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 520,507 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,968 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 7.0% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Apple were worth $92,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OLD Mission Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,238,000. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 125,859,709 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,237,745,000 after acquiring an additional 3,472,624 shares in the last quarter. Transform Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Transform Wealth LLC now owns 226,052 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $31,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,454 shares in the last quarter. Parker Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Parker Investment Management LLC now owns 16,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,294,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, G&S Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. G&S Capital LLC now owns 28,813 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,077,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.98% of the company’s stock.

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 1,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.29, for a total value of $344,153.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 25,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.78, for a total value of $4,369,500.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $174.31 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.98. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $122.25 and a 52-week high of $182.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 27th. The iPhone maker reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $123.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $118.53 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 149.81% and a net margin of 26.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.68 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.16 earnings per share for the current year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 7th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 4th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.57%.

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $210.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Monday, March 21st. New Street Research raised Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, January 28th. Raymond James raised their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 28th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Apple from $170.00 to $185.00 in a report on Friday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 28th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $189.82.

Apple Profile (Get Rating)

Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.

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