Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,845,164 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 95,557 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 6.0% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Apple were worth $409,700,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group set a $210.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.95.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $0.86 during trading on Thursday, hitting $213.30. 34,771,548 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 58,103,930. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $203.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $219.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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 issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

About Apple

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.