Apple Inc. $AAPL is Scotia Capital Inc.'s 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Scotia Capital Inc. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 1.6% in the first quarter, now owning 3,325,183 shares valued at approximately $738.6 million.
• Apple's latest quarterly earnings showed an EPS of $1.57, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue up 9.6% year-over-year.
• Research analysts have raised their price targets for Apple, with new targets ranging from $220 to $270, reflecting a generally positive outlook on the stock.

Scotia Capital Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,325,183 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 53,550 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.0% of Scotia Capital Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $738,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its stake in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays raised their price target on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $238.99.

Apple Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $1.86 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $237.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,928,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,577,613. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $219.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.40. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.07, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm 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 company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.