Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s 4th Largest Position

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,548,478 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 285,872 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.0% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,651,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,302,607,000 after buying an additional 5,566,250 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Apple by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,496,738,000 after buying an additional 3,416,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.05.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $237.62 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.