Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its stake in Apple Inc. by **5.5%**, owning a total of **288,715 shares** valued at **$64.13 million**, making it Apple’s 6th largest position in its portfolio.
• Several institutional investors have recently made significant adjustments to their holdings in Apple, including **Norges Bank** which acquired nearly **$46.87 billion** in new shares, and **GAMMA Investing LLC** which raised its stake by an astounding **25,934.1%**.
• Analysts have mixed views on Apple’s stock with target prices ranging from **$226.00** to **$270.00**, with an average rating of **"Moderate Buy"** and a current average target price of **$237.37**.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 288,715 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 15,075 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.3% of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $64,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during 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 buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $232.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $215.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.08. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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