Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Grows Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Apple's stock by 3.2%, now owning over 2.14 million shares worth approximately $476.7 million.
• Apple's recent quarterly earnings showed $94.04 billion in revenue, exceeding estimates, with an earnings per share of $1.57, surpassing the consensus estimate.
• The company has authorized a stock repurchase plan allowing it to buy back $100 billion in shares, reflecting confidence in its stock valuation.

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,146,030 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 66,935 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 4.9% of Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $476,698,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.60.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.9810 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $229.9090. The stock had a trading volume of 20,787,359 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,647,684. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $210.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.94. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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.