M&G Plc Acquires 87,242 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

M&G PLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 42.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 292,852 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 87,242 shares during the quarter. M&G PLC's holdings in Apple were worth $68,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during 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 period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC raised its stake 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. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 22,870.6% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,302,607,000 after acquiring an additional 5,566,250 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.0% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,496,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416,922 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $5.85 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $236.85. 61,642,168 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 46,857,012. The firm has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $240.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.22. 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 fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays lifted their price target on Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.85.

About Apple

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.