Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 86.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,330,602 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,080,293 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.9% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $399,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its stake in Apple by 657.1% in the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $216.75 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $220.20. The company has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $192.13 and its 200 day moving average is $185.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wedbush upped their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $216.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Maxim Group increased their target price on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

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.