Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd Sells 6,734 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,415 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,734 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 0.8% of Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lowery Thomas LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup increased their target price on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays raised their price objective on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $227.63 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

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.