Ninety One UK Ltd Has $513.10 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Ninety One UK Ltd reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 12.4%, now owning 2.31 million shares valued at approximately $513.1 million, making Apple its 21st largest investment.
• Apple reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.57, exceeding expectations, and its revenue reached $94.04 billion, marking a 9.6% increase year-over-year.
• The company has approved a significant $100 billion stock buyback program, signaling confidence in its stock's value and intent to return capital to shareholders.

Ninety One UK Ltd decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,309,920 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 327,710 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.4% of Ninety One UK Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $513,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.37.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL traded up $2.50 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $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 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.37, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.16. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $214.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.05.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Apple's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.26 dividend. 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 initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.