Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Lowered by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

Key Points

• AustralianSuper Pty Ltd reduced its position in Apple Inc. by 9.2% in Q1, now holding approximately 5.48 million shares valued at $1.22 billion.
• Analysts have varied ratings for Apple, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.37.
• Apple recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.4%.

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,479,341 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 552,425 shares during the period. Apple comprises 6.9% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $1,217,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.73.

Apple Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of AAPL traded up $7.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $237.02. 40,885,420 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,657,605. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.97, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The business's 50-day moving average price is $216.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.75.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 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.