Signature Resources Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Signature Resources Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 27.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,378 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,255 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 0.7% of Signature Resources Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 761,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $130,629,000 after buying an additional 17,519 shares during the period. PGGM Investments raised its holdings in Apple by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 991,643 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $170,047,000 after acquiring an additional 119,866 shares during the period. Dodds Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the first quarter. Dodds Wealth LLC now owns 12,707 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,179,000 after acquiring an additional 784 shares in the last quarter. Invst LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the first quarter. Invst LLC now owns 49,814 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,470,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 2,568,133 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $440,383,000 after purchasing an additional 29,162 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

AAPL opened at $254.49 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $255.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $234.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.