GAM Holding AG boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 209,293 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 23,646 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.6% of GAM Holding AG's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. GAM Holding AG's holdings in Apple were worth $46,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.94.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL
Insider Activity at Apple
In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Apple Price Performance
Shares of AAPL stock traded down $2.22 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $209.05. 43,674,703 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 43,746,808. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $205.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $214.16. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
About Apple
(
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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