Tredje AP fonden Raises Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Tredje AP fonden raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,035,544 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 54,198 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 6.8% of Tredje AP fonden's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Tredje AP fonden's holdings in Apple were worth $760,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $288,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.3% in the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.9% in the third quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,723,104 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $876,483,000 after acquiring an additional 103,856 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Down 3.0%

Apple stock traded down $6.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $195.27. The company had a trading volume of 78,299,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,255,650. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $204.64 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $225.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase 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 reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.