Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $965.08 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,853,850 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 459,563 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.3% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $965,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Apple stock traded down $4.77 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $202.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 59,113,086 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,963,045. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm's 50-day moving average is $205.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $226.43. The company has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.08, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. 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 16.20%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Citigroup reiterated a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

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.