Alliancebernstein L.P. trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,578,866 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,191,513 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.3% of Alliancebernstein L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.18% of Apple worth $6,655,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth 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 period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Apple Trading Up 0.2%
NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $0.40 on Thursday, hitting $199.18. 43,675,646 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,560,287. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company's 50-day moving average price is $200.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.60.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective 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. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.
Read Our Latest Report on Apple
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple 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 $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
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.
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