DJE Kapital AG Takes $136.03 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

DJE Kapital AG acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 542,229 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $136,027,000. Apple comprises about 3.2% of DJE Kapital AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $288,000. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in Apple by 10.1% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $87,501,000 after purchasing an additional 34,414 shares during the period. 5th Street Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 32.9% in the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the period. Simmons Bank grew its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $30,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth $4,972,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded up $0.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $212.67. The company had a trading volume of 14,923,005 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,874,087. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $206.60 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.99.

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

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

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.