Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is NatWest Group plc's Largest Position

NatWest Group plc grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 75.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 147,832 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 63,377 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 10.2% of NatWest Group plc's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. NatWest Group plc's holdings in Apple were worth $34,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $0.61 on Wednesday, hitting $248.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,151,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,453,355. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $250.80. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $231.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $222.66. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America increased their price target on Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $236.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.