AIA Group Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

AIA Group Ltd increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 195,717 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 21,727 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.2% of AIA Group Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. AIA Group Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $49,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.4% in the third quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 10,061,591 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,344,351,000 after purchasing an additional 332,081 shares in the last quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the third quarter. Hollow Brook Wealth Management LLC now owns 57,981 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,515 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 83.7% in the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 277,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $64,709,000 after purchasing an additional 126,522 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its holdings in Apple by 0.8% in the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 128,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $29,994,000 after purchasing an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harmony Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. Harmony Asset Management LLC now owns 74,175 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $17,283,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the 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 $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, June 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock traded down $3.89 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $198.78. The company had a trading volume of 60,780,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,606,411. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company's fifty day moving average is $200.71 and its 200-day moving average is $223.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.

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, topping 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 business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is 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. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.