Empire Life Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 32.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,442 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 34,269 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.2% of Empire Life Investments Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Empire Life Investments Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $34,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Apple Price Performance
AAPL stock traded up $6.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $205.83. The stock had a trading volume of 13,793,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,640,486. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.92 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.69.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, TD Cowen restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.25.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple
Apple Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
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