Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 40.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 241,277 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 160,703 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 8.9% of Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $60,421,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Apple
Apple Trading Down 0.3%
NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.54 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $202.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 29,288,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,013,061. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $201.99 and a 200 day moving average of $224.54.
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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback 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 generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.
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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