Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Acquires New Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 723,222 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $181,109,000. Apple comprises approximately 4.7% of Generali Asset Management SPA SGR's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 257,350 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $64,446,000 after purchasing an additional 5,673 shares during the last quarter. Entrewealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $1,438,000. Horizon Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 55.4% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 94,671 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $23,681,000 after purchasing an additional 33,757 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 534,397 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,824,000 after purchasing an additional 11,204 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carlson Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 28.2% in the 4th quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 57,832 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $14,482,000 after purchasing an additional 12,718 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.94 on Friday, hitting $199.01. The stock had a trading volume of 70,744,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. The business's fifty day moving average is $203.10 and its 200 day moving average is $225.00. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays lowered their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

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.