Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Amundi

Amundi lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,539,248 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 197,168 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.5% of Amundi's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Amundi owned 0.36% of Apple worth $12,999,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 893,993 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $208,301,000 after purchasing an additional 48,053 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,356,000. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the third quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 102,466 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $23,875,000 after buying an additional 1,357 shares during the last quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.3% in the third quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,894 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,965,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 25.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 35,109 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,180,000 after purchasing an additional 7,196 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Barclays decreased their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $2.48 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $208.78. 45,304,005 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,954,362. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $206.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $226.67. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

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. 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 quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Company 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.