Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lowered by Cacti Asset Management LLC

Cacti Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 540,239 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,013 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 10.5% of Cacti Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Cacti Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $136,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James increased their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $244.60 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $240.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $231.68.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Apple Company 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.