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

Quantbot Technologies LP lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 36.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,828 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 12,662 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 417,924 shares of company stock worth $94,142,399 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $222.91 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $227.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.66, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 145.09% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 11th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Cfra upped their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.23.

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.