Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 468,522 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 5,632 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 3.4% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $109,166,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Apple by 5.5% during 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 last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 6.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Apple by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,214,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359,409 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.47.
Read Our Latest Report on Apple
Apple Price Performance
NASDAQ AAPL traded down $3.39 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 firm has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $237.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $227.89.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.
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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