Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $2.07 Billion Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,279,802 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 155,623 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.2% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.06% of Apple worth $2,073,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $3.29 on Friday, reaching $203.92. 46,477,335 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,154,463. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $201.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $224.15. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.02.

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.