Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,178,445 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 26,202 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.7% of Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $295,106,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $24,566,054,000 after buying an additional 3,156,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,290,044 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,847,413,000 after buying an additional 674,991 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 target price (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three 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 has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
Apple Stock Performance
AAPL stock traded down $2.75 during trading on Friday, hitting $196.45. 51,345,532 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $201.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $223.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction 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 represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Apple Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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