Richelieu Gestion SA Has $3.28 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Richelieu Gestion SA boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 111.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,121 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,099 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.4% of Richelieu Gestion SA’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Richelieu Gestion SA’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prentice Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 9.1% during the first quarter. Prentice Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,841 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Shorepath Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Shorepath Capital Management LLC now owns 45,394 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,784,000 after purchasing an additional 11,082 shares during the period. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 7.8% in the first quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 26,561 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,555,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its position in Apple by 86.4% during the first quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,330,602 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $399,652,000 after buying an additional 1,080,293 shares during the period. Finally, DLK Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the first quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 77,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,252,000 after buying an additional 2,390 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other 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 value of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $216.75 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $220.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $192.13 and its 200 day moving average is $185.31.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.