Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s Largest Position

Handelsbanken Fonder AB lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,493,213 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 94,614 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 6.0% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,512,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Apple by 7.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474,887 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,759 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,061,296,000 after acquiring an additional 485,873 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $228.44 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $227.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.25.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.