Cigna Investments Inc. New Sells 9,951 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cigna Investments Inc. New lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 5.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 190,002 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 9,951 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.8% of Cigna Investments Inc. New’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Robinson Value Management Ltd. bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 75.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 5,935.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bluestem Financial Advisors LLC now owns 233,803 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 229,929 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its holdings in Apple by 21.7% during the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Ramsey Quantitative Systems bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $150.47 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $124.17 and a one year high of $179.61. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $144.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.41.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Apple from $153.00 to $158.00 in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Fundamental Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, February 14th. Credit Suisse Group set a $184.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Monday, February 6th. Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, March 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $199.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.24.

Apple Company Profile

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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.