Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Raised by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,926,179 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 38,659 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 6.1% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Apple worth $2,485,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.94 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $199.01. 70,744,759 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,305,937. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $203.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.20. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction 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 represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.