Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 379,344 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group Inc. has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 1.7%, selling 379,344 shares, leaving it with 21,347,671 shares, which comprises approximately 2.7% of its total holdings.
• Apple reported earnings of $1.57 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.43, and its revenue for the quarter reached $94.04 billion, reflecting a year-over-year increase of 9.6%.
• The company has authorized a $100 billion share buyback plan, indicating confidence in the stock's valuation, and recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,347,671 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 379,344 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.7% of Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Apple worth $4,741,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 14.3% in 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 worth $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock traded up $3.51 on Friday, hitting $228.41. 24,751,973 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,281,676. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $211.89 and a 200-day moving average of $213.13. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.98.

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.