Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $6 Billion Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,652,511 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,379,651 shares during the period. Apple comprises 5.8% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.16% of Apple worth $5,999,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Apple by 12.4% during the 4th quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $192,700,000 after acquiring an additional 83,997 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its position in Apple by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Bank grew its position in Apple by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $22,433,000 after acquiring an additional 2,360 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $3.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $203.92. 46,477,335 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,154,463. The business's 50-day moving average price is $201.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year 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.

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 (EPS) 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board of directors 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 paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Bank of America cut their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.02.

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.