Impax Asset Management Group plc Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Impax Asset Management Group plc has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 26.1%, holding 414,890 shares worth approximately $92.16 million after selling 146,782 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, such as Strategic Blueprint LLC and Brookstone Capital Management, have increased their positions in Apple, indicating continued interest in the company's stock.
• Apple reported $1.57 earnings per share in its latest quarterly earnings, beating analysts' expectations, and also announced a $0.26 quarterly dividend along with a $100 billion share repurchase plan.

Impax Asset Management Group plc lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 26.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 414,890 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 146,782 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc's holdings in Apple were worth $92,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in 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 raised its stake in Apple by 14.3% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.98.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded up $2.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $227.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 42,431,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,854,304. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16. The company's fifty day moving average price is $212.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.96.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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 initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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 $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

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.