Apple Inc. $AAPL is Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ's 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 39.1% in Q2, making Apple its 2nd largest position at 33.0% of the fund's holdings.
• Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus on Apple, with the average price target at $242.74, following various rating upgrades from firms like Bank of America and Evercore ISI.
• Apple reported a 9.6% revenue increase year-over-year, with earnings of $1.57 per share for the last quarter, surpassing the expected $1.43.

Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 39.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 170,715 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 48,001 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 33.0% of Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ's holdings in Apple were worth $35,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 price target for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $242.74.

Insider Activity

In other 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $245.50 on Monday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $224.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given 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 15.78%.

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.

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