Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC Sells 1,854 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,048 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,854 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 6.8% of Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Figure 8 Investment Strategies LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th 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. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted 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 during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $202.38 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.71, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $205.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.50. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, China Renaissance started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% 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 link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple 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.