Quantbot Technologies LP Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Quantbot Technologies LP trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,882 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,946 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $228.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $241.68 and its 200 day moving average is $230.86. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Loop Capital cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $273.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

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.