Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Holdings Raised by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

Key Points

• BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in Apple Inc. by 2.6% in Q1, now owning approximately 7.4 million shares, valued at around $1.65 billion.
• Apple recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.57 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $94.04 billion, a year-over-year increase of 9.6%.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.5%, and has a payout ratio of 15.78%.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,429,063 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 187,907 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.4% of BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.'s holdings in Apple were worth $1,649,577,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its stake in Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its stake in Apple by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business'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 sale, the senior vice president directly 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of AAPL traded up $4.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $234.07. 55,746,907 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,877,563. The company's fifty day moving average price is $221.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 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. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued 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 payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. HSBC set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target 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 issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $240.80.

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.