Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s 3rd Largest Position

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,274,630 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 54,599 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 4.5% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $1,461,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased 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. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,269,000 after acquiring an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL traded up $3.07 on Friday, reaching $244.60. The stock had a trading volume of 40,209,657 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,118,617. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $240.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.41. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lifted their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $242.52.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % 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, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.