Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC Decreases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC decreased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 60,981 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 46,115 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.4% of Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,209,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 4.7% during the third quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 53,630 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,496,000 after acquiring an additional 2,420 shares in the last quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 52,833 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,767 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 1.1% in the third quarter. Cambridge Advisors Inc. now owns 40,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,346,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Peoples Bank OH increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 32,924 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,671,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Finally, Rogco LP lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Rogco LP now owns 21,288 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,960,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Maxim Group raised their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $254.49 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $255.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $234.97 and its 200 day moving average is $225.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Company 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.