Schroder Investment Management Group Boosts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 17.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,891,824 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,339,445 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 3.8% of Schroder Investment Management Group's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Schroder Investment Management Group owned approximately 0.11% of Apple worth $3,979,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth about $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Bank of America dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Raymond James cut their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.02.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $2.47 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $201.45. 72,159,282 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,219,988. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.12. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. 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.