Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Boosted by Sienna Gestion

Sienna Gestion lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 860.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 430,191 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 385,419 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 7.3% of Sienna Gestion's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Sienna Gestion's holdings in Apple were worth $107,713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after buying an additional 9,590,933 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $4.87 on Tuesday, reaching $200.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 31,401,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,160,519. The stock's 50-day moving average is $204.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.71. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.76, 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually 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 $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.