Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Sells 1,777,658 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 68.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 827,005 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,777,658 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 0.9% of Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $192,692,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 3.7 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $238.26 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $240.97 and its 200 day moving average is $230.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. KeyCorp downgraded Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.05.

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.