Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Bought by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Key Points

• Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 6.1% during the first quarter, now holding approximately 28.19 million shares worth about $6.26 billion.
• Institutions collectively own 67.73% of Apple's stock, with major acquisitions from the likes of Norges Bank and GAMMA Investing LLC.
• Analysts have raised their price targets for Apple, with the current consensus target set at $240.80 and a strong overall rating of "Moderate Buy".

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,191,897 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,613,031 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.3% of Alliancebernstein L.P.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.19% of Apple worth $6,262,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 3.9% during the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Sharpepoint LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,184,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.3% in the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price target on Apple and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $240.80.

Apple Stock Up 1.8%

Apple stock traded up $4.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $234.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 55,768,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,223,864. The company has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $221.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.39. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS 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 return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, 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 company insiders.

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.