Polymer Capital Management HK LTD Decreases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Polymer Capital Management HK LTD cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 80.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 26,587 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 108,441 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.4% of Polymer Capital Management HK LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Polymer Capital Management HK LTD’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after buying an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.63 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $241.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $231.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.