Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,590,191 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 8,511,505 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 6.9% of Legal & General Group Plc's portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.95% of Apple worth $30,664,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter valued at $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in Apple by 158.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 161.2% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after buying an additional 5,405,542 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $834,368,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. New Street Research restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $3.10 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $228.22. 44,890,936 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 58,721,086. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The business's 50-day moving average price is $226.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Apple 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.