Sustainable Growth Advisers LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,543,448 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 531,392 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.2% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP's holdings in Apple were worth $636,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on AAPL
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Apple Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $195.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $225.92. The company has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.
Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
Apple Company Profile
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Free Report)
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.
See Also
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).
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