Hedge Funds Are Reducing Or Adding To Their Stakes In Apple

The tech giant's stock has been trading up due to variation in its stock held by different investment companies.

According to the latest 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the New York based investment firm, Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc., during the fourth quarter, has brought down its position in Californian based Apple Inc. by 4.3%. The firm now currently owned 324,234 shares after selling off 14,478 shares of the most valuable company. The tech giant makes about 4.1% of the firm’s portfolio which ultimately turn the stock in having the second largest position in Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. As of the most recent SEC filing, the investment firm’s holding in the Silicon-Valley business is worth $34,129,000.

Apart from the New York based company, other hedge funds have also either reduced or added to their stakes in the company. In the fourth quarter, Manning & Napier Advisors increased its stake in the tech giant by a significant 51%. Resultantly, the company now owns a colossal 3,937,063 shares which now, after the company bought additional 1,330,218 shares, worth $414,414,000. Moreover, Boston Advisors added 171.5% more to its stake in Apple Inc. The company’s shares now have a worth of $129,850,000 and totaled 1,233,608 shares.  

Moreover, in the fourth quarter, the Atlanta based asset management firm, Cornerstone Investment Partners brought its stake in the $580 billion company up by 2,818%. The firm now owns iPhone maker’s stock worth $61,108,000, and accumulated shares of 580,539. In the similar fashion, Simplex Trading increased its stake by 782.8% and it now owns 343,422 shares worth $36,148,000. Lastly, during the fourth quarter, the investment managers, Verde Servico Internacionias took into its credit Apple’s stock worth$50,228,000.

During the trading which carried out on Friday, the Cupertino, Calif. firm’s stock increased by 1.49% and hit $103.01 mark. Apple’s stock had a trading volume of 46,055,100 shares. The market capitalization of the company which entitled it to be the most valuable company is $579.64 billion and a PE ratio of 10.96. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $96.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.55. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $92.00 and a 1-year high of $134.54.

Recently, the company has also declared a quarterly dividend, whose payment was carried out on Thursday, February 11, 2016. On February 8, 2016, the investors of record were given a $0.52 dividend. Through this, the payment highlights the company $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%.

The stock of the company has been under scrutiny of multiple analysts. Analysts at Piper Jaffray reduced the price target to $172 from previous $179. They also rated the stock as “Overweight.” $145 price target, however, has been set by Sterne Agee CRT analysts who further maintained the “Buy” rating for the stock. In the similar fashion, Credit Suisse and Barclays retained their “Buy” rating for tech giant’s stock while the former set the price target of $140. Lastly, Raymond James gave “Hold” rating to the stock and set the price target at $120.