AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Invests $122.99 Million in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired 553,689 shares of Apple Inc. valued at approximately $123 million, making it the largest holding in their portfolio at 7.0%.
• Apple reported earnings of $1.57 per share for the last quarter, surpassing expectations and showing a 9.6% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, reflecting a yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 15.78%.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 553,689 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $122,991,000. Apple comprises about 7.0% of AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs' portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after buying an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Apple by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson raised shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $242.74.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $7.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $245.50. The stock had a trading volume of 163,435,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,568,860. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company's fifty day moving average is $224.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

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.