Groupama Asset Managment Raises Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,098,333 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 41,860 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.0% of Groupama Asset Managment's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Apple were worth $276,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 3.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,411,260,000 after buying an additional 9,590,933 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $198.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,546,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,449,083. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $200.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.60.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is 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 paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple 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.