Czech National Bank Purchases 172,698 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Czech National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,450,234 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 172,698 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 7.0% of Czech National Bank's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Czech National Bank's holdings in Apple were worth $766,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $201.08. 73,093,456 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,360,608. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $202.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $220.03. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast 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 share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.39.

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.