Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 22,835 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 984,951 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 22,835 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 7.1% of Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $189,633,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its position in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp grew its position in Apple by 70.2% in the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its position in Apple by 27.7% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $110,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $132,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $169.02 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.00 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.80 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $173.58 and its 200-day moving average is $181.94.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.57%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 16th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.