Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 41,350 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,118 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 5.8% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Apple were worth $9,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $14,916,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $60,958,000 after buying an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,473,224,000 after acquiring an additional 126,210 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 5.2% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $406,099,000 after purchasing an additional 95,235 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Apple Trading Down 1.3 %
Shares of AAPL traded down $3.43 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $255.59. The stock had a trading volume of 42,297,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,290,680. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock's 50 day moving average is $237.41 and its 200 day moving average is $227.89. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson cut their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.47.
View Our Latest Research Report on AAPL
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.
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