Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Raised by Lbp Am Sa

Lbp Am Sa lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 971,086 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 71,092 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.3% of Lbp Am Sa's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Lbp Am Sa's holdings in Apple were worth $243,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Trading Down 3.0%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $195.27 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $205.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The firm 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

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.

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