Unigestion Holding SA Buys 46,953 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Unigestion Holding SA lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 17.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 320,418 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 46,953 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.2% of Unigestion Holding SA's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Unigestion Holding SA's holdings in Apple were worth $71,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.95.

Apple Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $2.65 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $207.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 78,543,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,614,686. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $202.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.53. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.