Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Quad Cities Investment Group LLC

Quad Cities Investment Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 65,007 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 897 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 8.0% of Quad Cities Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Quad Cities Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Provident Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 26.0% in the second quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,099 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,877 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $690,000. RPG Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 133,173 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $28,049,000 after buying an additional 15,290 shares in the last quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 157.9% in the 2nd quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 31,612 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,658,000 after acquiring an additional 19,354 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.2% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 2,970,982 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,747,000 after acquiring an additional 369,820 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $247.10 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $240.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $233.12. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year 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 has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.22, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson set a $290.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.85.

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.