New Century Financial Group LLC Sells 8,113 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

New Century Financial Group LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 22.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 28,503 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 8,113 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.0% of New Century Financial Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. New Century Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Apple from $275.00 to $252.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.22.

Apple Trading Up 1.8 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $213.49 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.08 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $234.52 and its 200 day moving average is $233.73. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.