Cigna Investments Inc. New Cuts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cigna Investments Inc. New cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 148,145 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,924 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 6.5% of Cigna Investments Inc. New’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Apple were worth $37,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,326 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,851,000 after acquiring an additional 418 shares in the last quarter. Wealthcare Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $3,957,000. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $12,424,000. McBroom & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC now owns 37,680 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,436,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,267,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $263.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % 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, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 4.1 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $198.15 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $222.87 and its 200 day moving average is $231.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

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.