Bank Hapoalim BM Sells 7,510 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Bank Hapoalim BM reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 20.8%, selling 7,510 shares, and now holds 28,533 shares valued at approximately $6.34 million.
• Apple's stock recently increased by 0.9% during trading, reaching $229.31, with a market cap of $3.40 trillion and estimated revenue of $94.04 billion for the latest quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.5%, and also authorized a share repurchase plan worth $100 billion.

Bank Hapoalim BM reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 20.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,533 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 7,510 shares during the period. Bank Hapoalim BM's holdings in Apple were worth $6,338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.37.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $2.50 during trading on Thursday, reaching $232.99. 20,569,050 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,837,367. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $214.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $213.05. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week 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. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.16.

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, 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 firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are 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.