Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Trimmed by Banque de Luxembourg S.A.

Banque de Luxembourg S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 39,064 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 102 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.7% of Banque de Luxembourg S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Banque de Luxembourg S.A.’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $256.87 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market cap of $3.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $227.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.66.

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.