Principal Securities Inc. Has $49.15 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 221,261 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.1% of Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $49,149,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.01.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $229.31 on Wednesday. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $213.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.93. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan 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 plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.

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