Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 46.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 527,427 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 168,079 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 6.6% of E Fund Management Co. Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $132,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Apple by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $24,566,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156,680 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $21,335,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,087 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Bank of America reduced their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen dropped 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. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $0.19 on Friday, reaching $211.26. 53,614,750 shares of the stock were exchanged, 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $206.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.68.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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.