LGT Group Foundation decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,812,464 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 23,035 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 7.0% of LGT Group Foundation's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. LGT Group Foundation's holdings in Apple were worth $453,877,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after buying an additional 9,590,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Apple Stock Up 1.0%
Shares of Apple stock traded up $2.14 on Tuesday, hitting $212.93. 51,637,380 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,107,660. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm's 50-day moving average is $207.59 and its 200 day moving average is $227.19.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush lowered Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $235.80.
Check Out Our Latest Report on AAPL
About Apple
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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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