QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $601.18 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,400,681 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 66,032 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 6.2% of QRG Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $601,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Old North State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 99.2% during the 3rd quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,050 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,309,000 after buying an additional 13,472 shares in the last quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Intact Investment Management Inc. now owns 43,300 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,089,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 534,795 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $124,607,000 after acquiring an additional 48,327 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 5.0% during the third quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,595 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,401,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 12.8% in the third quarter. Cohen Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,005 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,030,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective for the company. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $235.80.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded up $1.04 on Friday, hitting $198.53. The company's stock had a trading volume of 36,406,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,044,007. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $208.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $227.64.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Apple

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.