B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,682,864 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $625,084,000. Apple accounts for approximately 6.2% of B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in 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 in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL traded down $1.59 on Friday, reaching $236.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 100,927,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 52,177,912. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $241.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.87. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.82, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 owns 389,944 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America raised their price target on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. KeyCorp reiterated an "underweight" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Moffett Nathanson reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $242.52.

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.