Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Boosts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 591,599 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 152,310 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 3.7% of Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI's holdings in Apple were worth $137,843,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth approximately $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $834,368,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tairen Capital Ltd bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $588,952,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. KeyCorp lowered Apple from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Apple Stock Up 1.9 %

AAPL traded up $4.70 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $254.49. 145,580,875 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,671,145. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $255.00. The stock's 50-day moving average is $234.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 187,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.