Longbow Finance SA increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 328,254 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 15,546 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 9.0% of Longbow Finance SA's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Longbow Finance SA's holdings in Apple were worth $82,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in Apple by 10.6% during 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 during the period. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $21,335,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,087 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Barclays lowered their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.
Check Out Our Latest Report on AAPL
Apple Stock Up 0.0 %
Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.03 on Tuesday, reaching $198.92. 49,654,320 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,219,123. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $211.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $228.33. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.
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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is 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 yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.
Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Apple Company Profile
(
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.
Featured Stories
Before you consider Apple, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Apple wasn't on the list.
While Apple currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Enter your email address and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of ten stocks that are set to soar in Spring 2025, despite the threat of tariffs and other economic uncertainty. These ten stocks are incredibly resilient and are likely to thrive in any economic environment.
Get This Free Report
