IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $601.66 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd has increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 3.7%, owning approximately 2.93 million shares valued at $601.66 million, making Apple its third-largest investment.
• In the latest earnings report, Apple posted an EPS of $1.57, exceeding estimates, and reported a year-over-year revenue increase of 9.6% to $94.04 billion.
• Apple recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, reflecting a pay-out ratio of 15.78% and a yield of 0.4%.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,932,508 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 105,632 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 5.7% of IFM Investors Pty Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $601,663,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 14.3% in 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 buying an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $255.46 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $228.87 and a 200-day moving average of $213.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $245.66.

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.

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