Cigna Investments Inc. New Sells 9,951 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cigna Investments Inc. New lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 5.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 190,002 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,951 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 5.8% of Cigna Investments Inc. New’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Robinson Value Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 5,935.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC now owns 233,803 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 229,929 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 21.7% in the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $55,000. 57.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $150.47 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $179.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.55, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.41.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 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 was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a $0.23 dividend. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on Apple from $165.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $160.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 3rd. National Bank Financial cut their price objective on Apple to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 20th. Finally, Fundamental Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.24.

About Apple

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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.