Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Purchases New Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired 430,808 shares of Apple Inc. valued at approximately $95.7 million, marking it as the 4th largest holding in their portfolio.
• Apple's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $1.57 earnings per share on revenues of $94.04 billion, up 9.6% from last year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26, representing an annualized yield of 0.4% and a payout ratio of 15.78%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 430,808 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $95,694,000. Apple accounts for approximately 4.2% of Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $239.05.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $239.69. 54,829,143 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,688,568. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $219.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.64. 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 issued 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The business's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.