Boston Common Asset Management LLC Has $44.33 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Boston Common Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 190,272 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 13,163 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.2% of Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Boston Common Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $44,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hoese & Co LLP increased its stake in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, SMH Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $209,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $234.93 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $228.83 and a 200 day moving average of $219.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Moffett Nathanson reduced their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.25.

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.