OFI Invest Asset Management Acquires 35,345 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

OFI Invest Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,156,665 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 35,345 shares during the quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $237,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 98,099,909 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,790,933,000 after buying an additional 984,157 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $268.47 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.74, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $252.25 and its 200 day moving average is $224.71. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $277.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. DZ Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 224,300 shares of company stock valued at $57,586,933. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.