Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s Largest Position

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,181,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 84,187 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 7.0% of Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $229,198,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 116,483.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $74,002,245,000 after buying an additional 569,066,184 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $21,746,940,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,110,586,000 after purchasing an additional 25,926,552 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 915,560,382 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $150,975,907,000 after purchasing an additional 20,424,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 16,638.6% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 15,593,974 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $94,566,000 after purchasing an additional 15,500,812 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $186.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average of $176.47 and a 200 day moving average of $180.06. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.30. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.17 and a 1 year high of $198.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.07. Apple had a net margin of 25.31% and a return on equity of 160.78%. The company had revenue of $89.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 16th. Investors of record on Monday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $222.00 to $216.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $197.82.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 31,685 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.69, for a total transaction of $5,661,792.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,237,944.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 65,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.11, for a total transaction of $11,279,400.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,483,548.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 31,685 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.69, for a total transaction of $5,661,792.65. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,237,944.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 439,585 shares of company stock valued at $76,485,550. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Apple

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.