RD Finance Ltd Buys New Shares in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• RD Finance Ltd has acquired 4,300 shares of Apple Inc. valued at approximately $955,000, making it the fund's 25th largest holding.
• Several institutional investors, including Norges Bank and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in Apple, with GAMMA's position boosted by over 25,000% in the first quarter.
• Apple recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 0.4%, with a dividend payout ratio of 15.78%.

RD Finance Ltd purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,300 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $955,000. Apple accounts for about 0.8% of RD Finance Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $147,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $239.05.

Apple Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Apple stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $239.69. 54,829,143 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,688,568. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $219.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.64. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

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.