Pictet North America Advisors SA Lowers Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pictet North America Advisors SA reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 5.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 176,725 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,131 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.9% of Pictet North America Advisors SA’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Robinson Value Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 75.4% during the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP increased its position in shares of Apple by 200.0% during the third quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Ramsey Quantitative Systems bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $55,000. 57.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $150.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The company has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.30. The business has a 50 day moving average of $143.65 and a 200 day moving average of $145.98. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.17 and a 52 week high of $179.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $117.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 163.45% and a net margin of 24.56%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.10 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Fundamental Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. National Bank Financial decreased their price target on Apple to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 20th. BNP Paribas lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Raymond James cut their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.24.

Apple Company Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.