Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 153,986 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,644 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 5.6% of Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $35,879,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Latitude Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $232.47. 39,614,048 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 59,044,504. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.95. The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $242.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 the business's 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple 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.