Capital Management Associates NY Trims Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Capital Management Associates NY lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,238 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,198 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.7% of Capital Management Associates NY’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Capital Management Associates NY’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 42.8% in the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 299,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,993,000 after purchasing an additional 89,865 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple by 35.7% in the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 25,608 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,501,000 after purchasing an additional 6,735 shares during the last quarter. Callan Capital LLC increased its position in Apple by 1.6% in the second quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 85,226 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP increased its position in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Bennett Selby Investments LP now owns 151,793 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $20,978,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acute Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Apple by 212.0% in the second quarter. Acute Investment Advisory LLC now owns 11,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,549,000 after purchasing an additional 7,700 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 18th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $167.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $199.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.24.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $150.47 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $179.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The company has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $144.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.41.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.62%.

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.