Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Concentric Capital Strategies LP

Concentric Capital Strategies LP reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 98.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,101 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 398,043 shares during the quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,528,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,566,054,000 after purchasing an additional 3,156,680 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $198.42 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $222.66. The company has a market cap of $2.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.50, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

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

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.86.

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.