Apple Inc. $AAPL is GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s Largest Position

Key Points

• GF Fund Management CO. LTD. increased its holdings in Apple Inc. by 0.4%, valuing their stake at $333.3 million and making it the firm's largest investment.
• In the latest earnings report, Apple posted an EPS of $1.57, surpassing estimates and showing a 9.6% year-over-year revenue growth with total revenue of $94.04 billion.
• Apple declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26, representing an annualized yield of 0.5%, alongside a significant stock repurchase plan authorizing the buyback of up to $100 billion in shares.

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,500,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 5,281 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 7.8% of GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Apple were worth $333,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,260,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,794,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp lifted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.98.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $2.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $227.76. The company had a trading volume of 42,431,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,854,304. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $212.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

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

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.