Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Caxton Associates LP

Caxton Associates LP trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,596 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 927 shares during the quarter. Caxton Associates LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $196.45 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.