Banque Pictet & Cie SA Purchases 31,515 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 415,985 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 31,515 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 0.7% of Banque Pictet & Cie SA's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Banque Pictet & Cie SA's holdings in Apple were worth $104,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 target price (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $2.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $196.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 51,328,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,825,645. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.77 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $219.65 and a 200 day moving average of $230.08.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.