Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,831,768 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,837 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.8% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $238,001,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $221,753,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,734,393 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 80,739,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,097,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155,915 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 71,060,708 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,407,910,000 after acquiring an additional 8,230,300 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,874,884 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,779,544,000 after acquiring an additional 698,686 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 48,826,270 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,525,555,000 after acquiring an additional 424,839 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,483.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 56,072 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.17, for a total transaction of $9,261,412.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,052 shares in the company, valued at $541,766,188.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $708,979.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,483.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Sunday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $199.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp upped their target price on Apple from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. UBS Group set a $180.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Monday, April 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.74.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $171.84 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.17 and a 1-year high of $176.39. The company has a market capitalization of $2.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.17, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $166.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $151.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.84 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. Apple’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.30%.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.