Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Has $603,000 Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 157.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 1,460 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 9.1% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,777,000. M.D. Sass LLC lifted its position in Apple by 36.6% during the 3rd quarter. M.D. Sass LLC now owns 17,900 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,171,000 after acquiring an additional 4,800 shares in the last quarter. Carlson Capital Management raised its position in shares of Apple by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 45,114 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,512,000 after purchasing an additional 7,662 shares in the last quarter. NCP Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. NCP Inc. now owns 19,381 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,516,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Townsquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 36.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 872,654 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $203,328,000 after purchasing an additional 235,333 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.02.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded up $3.29 during trading on Friday, reaching $203.92. 46,477,335 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,154,463. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $201.17 and a 200 day moving average of $224.12. 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 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan 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 plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

About Apple

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.