Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Decreased by Cypress Capital Group

Cypress Capital Group trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 211,745 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,441 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 5.5% of Cypress Capital Group’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Cypress Capital Group’s holdings in Apple were worth $49,337,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Apple by 52.4% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 22,025 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,132,000 after purchasing an additional 7,574 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 2,260,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $526,696,000 after buying an additional 9,700 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its holdings in Apple by 19.9% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 10,252,147 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,388,750,000 after buying an additional 1,699,474 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in Apple by 4.8% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 847,414 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $197,447,000 after acquiring an additional 38,519 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 433,946 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $101,109,000 after acquiring an additional 2,165 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $237.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $241.37 and its 200 day moving average is $230.81.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $253.00 price objective (down previously from $256.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lowered their price objective on Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.05.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.