Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. Has $6.52 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,023 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,146 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 0.1% of Cantor Fitzgerald L. P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 24,931.3% in the fourth quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC now owns 10,368,233 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,596,413,000 after buying an additional 10,326,812 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $196.45 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.93. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

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.