Conning Inc. Has $24.53 Million Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Conning Inc. reduced its position in Apple Inc. by 4.4% in Q1, selling 5,141 shares and leaving it with 110,419 shares valued at approximately $24.5 million.
• Apple's last quarterly earnings reported an EPS of $1.57, which surpassed analysts' expectations of $1.43, with revenue of $94.04 billion reflecting a 9.6% increase from the previous year.
• Apple's board has approved a $100 billion stock repurchase plan, indicating confidence in its stock value, while it also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share.

Conning Inc. reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,419 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 5,141 shares during the period. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $24,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Two equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.98.

Apple Stock Up 1.3%

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $2.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $227.76. 42,431,176 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 61,854,304. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.16. 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $212.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.09.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Profile

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.