American Century Companies Inc. Has $7.29 Billion Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.5% of American Century Companies Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,291,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. New England Professional Planning Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. New England Professional Planning Group Inc. now owns 4,944 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $848,000 after purchasing an additional 960 shares during the last quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. DLK Investment Management LLC now owns 77,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,252,000 after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its holdings in Apple by 86.4% in the first quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,330,602 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $399,652,000 after buying an additional 1,080,293 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,932 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shorepath Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 32.3% in the first quarter. Shorepath Capital Management LLC now owns 45,394 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,784,000 after buying an additional 11,082 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $233.67 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.34, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.46. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. StockNews.com upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

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.