Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's Largest Position

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 35.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 696,952 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 184,198 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 8.0% of Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $174,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson increased their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business'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 owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

Apple stock traded down $0.94 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $199.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 70,744,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,305,937. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $203.59 and a 200-day moving average of $225.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock 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.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.