Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Purchased by Czech National Bank

Key Points

• The Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Apple Inc. by 5.8% in Q2, owning approximately 3.65 million shares valued at about $749 million, making it the bank's third largest stock holding.
• Analysts have set varying price targets for Apple, with an average target of $242.74, and the stock has received multiple ratings including two "Strong Buy" and fourteen "Buy" ratings.
• Apple recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26, which represents an annualized yield of 0.4% and a dividend payout ratio of 15.78%.

Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,650,810 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 200,576 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 5.8% of Czech National Bank's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Czech National Bank's holdings in Apple were worth $749,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth approximately $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL traded up $10.58 on Monday, hitting $256.08. 105,286,841 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,632,036. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $224.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Melius Research set a $290.00 target price on Apple and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Wedbush set a $310.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $244.03.

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.