Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Reduced by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,547,896 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 10,580 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.1% of Candriam S.C.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Apple were worth $888,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in Apple by 25,285.2% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after purchasing an additional 9,590,933 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. UBS Group cut their target price on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of AAPL traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $211.26. The company had a trading volume of 53,614,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,938,270. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company's fifty day moving average price is $206.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $226.68.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple 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.