Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Reduces Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Ninety One SA PTY Ltd reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 25.1%, selling 11,412 shares, leaving it with 34,072 shares, which equates to approximately $7.56 million in value.
• Apple's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.57, exceeding analyst expectations by $0.14, and its revenue reached $94.04 billion, up 9.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a $0.26 quarterly dividend and a substantial $100 billion share buyback program, suggesting that its leadership believes the stock is undervalued.

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 25.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,072 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 11,412 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.4% of Ninety One SA PTY Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $7,560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. BMO Capital Markets restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded 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 issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the 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 company'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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.1%

AAPL stock traded up $2.50 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $232.99. The stock had a trading volume of 20,569,050 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,837,367. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year 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 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. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $214.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.05.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors 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.