Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Raises Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,186,348 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 33,874 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 7.5% of Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd's holdings in Apple were worth $297,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Apple Stock Up 0.0 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $198.92 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $210.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $228.13. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.

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