KBC Group NV Decreases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

KBC Group NV lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,204,671 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,047,272 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.3% of KBC Group NV's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. KBC Group NV's holdings in Apple were worth $1,378,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 23,555.4% in 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. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.60.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $1.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $231.59. The company had a trading volume of 56,003,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 63,552,584. The firm's 50 day moving average is $209.69 and its 200-day moving average is $213.33. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect 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 stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

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.