KBC Group NV Has $1.25 Billion Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

KBC Group NV reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,349,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 811,868 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 3.8% of KBC Group NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,246,438,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after buying an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 0.7% during the second quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 52,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,144,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Busey Bank boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Busey Bank now owns 1,025,702 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $216,033,000 after purchasing an additional 7,805 shares in the last quarter. Iowa State Bank boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 83,106 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Bancorp Inc ME boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.3% during the 2nd quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 30,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,361,000 after purchasing an additional 956 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.02.

Apple Trading Down 3.2 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $222.64 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $241.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $230.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.