ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,443 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,424 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.3% of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. increased its holdings in Apple by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kingdom Financial Group LLC. now owns 11,464 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,963,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 172,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,589,000 after acquiring an additional 20,737 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DNB Asset Management AS grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after buying an additional 279,311 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $168.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $175.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.21. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.80 and a 1 year high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.88 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

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.