Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Reduced by Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.

Stonebridge Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 109,253 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,609 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 6.8% of Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Stonebridge Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Robinson Value Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 75.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP raised its position in shares of Apple by 200.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Ramsey Quantitative Systems purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $155.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $146.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.32. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $179.61. 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 released 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, March 10th. UBS Group set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $153.00 to $158.00 in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, Fundamental Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.24.

Apple 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.