Forsta AP Fonden Boosts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Forsta AP Fonden grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,910,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 310,800 shares during the period. Apple makes up 7.0% of Forsta AP Fonden’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Apple were worth $911,053,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its position in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $258.20 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $235.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $226.77. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $258.21. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.47, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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 research report on Wednesday, August 28th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple 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.