Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Purchases 334,570 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 5.4%, acquiring an additional 334,570 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately $1.45 billion.
• Institutional investors collectively own 67.73% of Apple's stock, with notable increases from firms such as Vanguard and UBS during the last quarter.
• Apple declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share and approved a share repurchase program worth $100 billion, signaling confidence in its stock valuation.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,518,930 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 334,570 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.0% of Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $1,448,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.25.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

AAPL stock traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $204.14. The company had a trading volume of 7,744,827 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,777,820. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $213.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be given 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%.

About Apple

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.