Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Symmetry Partners LLC

Symmetry Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 21.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 157,530 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 42,971 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.2% of Symmetry Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Symmetry Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 42.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 299,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,993,000 after purchasing an additional 89,865 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 35.7% in the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 25,608 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,501,000 after purchasing an additional 6,735 shares during the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 85,226 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 151,793 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $20,978,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $563,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $155.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.17 and a fifty-two week high of $179.61. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.32. The company has a market cap of $2.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. The business had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $160.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.24.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.