Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 18.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,583,232 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,475,580 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 4.4% of Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,232,893,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $233.22 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.96.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

Apple Company 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.