AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Acquires 104,457 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,484,524 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 104,457 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 7.9% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Apple were worth $578,869,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $1.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $233.28. 39,360,042 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 46,276,219. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $240.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.36. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business's revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays boosted their price target on Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $239.85.

About Apple

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.