Concentric Capital Strategies LP trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 98.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,101 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 398,043 shares during the quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP's holdings in Apple were worth $1,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Financial Group LLC NE purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $808,000. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,315,000. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.4% during the 4th quarter. Capitolis Liquid Global Markets LLC now owns 2,535,027 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $634,821,000 after buying an additional 196,300 shares during the period. Cercano Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Cercano Management LLC now owns 197,395 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $49,432,000 after buying an additional 21,352 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 146,353 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $36,650,000 after buying an additional 2,117 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Apple Price Performance
Shares of AAPL traded down $2.78 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $195.64. The stock had a trading volume of 38,432,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,632,706. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $202.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.66. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.
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About Apple
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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.
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