Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 93.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 229,378 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 110,776 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 5.9% of China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Apple were worth $53,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,291,583,000 after buying an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Apple by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,214,222,000 after buying an additional 2,359,409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of 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. Insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a "sector weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.47.

Apple Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL traded down $3.39 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $252.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 35,435,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,203,777. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $237.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $227.89. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.