Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Sells 53,366 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. sold 53,366 shares of Apple Inc., reducing its holdings by 0.4%, while still maintaining over 12 million shares of the company, which constitutes 5.3% of its portfolio.
• Other institutional investors, such as Norges Bank and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in Apple, with GAMMA increasing by over 25,900% in the first quarter.
• Apple announced a $100 billion stock buyback plan, indicating the board's belief that the company's shares are undervalued, alongside recently declaring a quarterly dividend of <$0.26 per share.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,389,285 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 53,366 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.3% of Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned 0.08% of Apple worth $2,752,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded up $9.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $229.35. 113,661,399 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,719,256. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $206.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.21. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.60.

Apple 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.