Martin Currie Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 323,181 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 14,396 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.0% of Martin Currie Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Martin Currie Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $80,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $6,694,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $331,873,000. B&L Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,921,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,813,000. Finally, Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,896,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Apple Trading Up 1.6%
Shares of Apple stock opened at $203.92 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $201.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $224.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The firm 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 a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.02.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on AAPL
Apple Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
See Also
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