Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Trimmed by JPB Foundation

JPB Foundation trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,021,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 142,000 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 19.1% of JPB Foundation’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. JPB Foundation’s holdings in Apple were worth $175,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC grew its stake in Apple by 23,076.4% in the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,584,512,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Apple by 158.3% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Cfra increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Melius Research increased their target price on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Apple from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, July 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 180,178 shares of company stock valued at $36,133,537. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $226.05 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $218.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $193.13. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.