Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's 2nd Largest Position

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,601,676 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 81,188 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 6.7% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG's holdings in Apple were worth $652,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. TD Cowen dropped their price objective 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. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $1.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $202.67. 52,015,754 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,214,415. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $200.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $223.92. The stock has a market cap of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Company 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.