Freemont Management S.A. lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 57.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,000 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 73,000 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 6.3% of Freemont Management S.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Freemont Management S.A.'s holdings in Apple were worth $12,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,302,607,000 after buying an additional 5,566,250 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,496,738,000 after acquiring an additional 3,416,922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Maxim Group increased their price objective on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $238.02.
View Our Latest Analysis on Apple
Apple Price Performance
NASDAQ AAPL opened at $222.64 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $241.12 and a 200 day moving average of $230.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.62, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during 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 business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.
Apple Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.45%.
Insider Transactions at Apple
In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade 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.
About Apple
(
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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