Nvwm LLC Purchases 6,852 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Nvwm LLC raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 70,475 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,852 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.2% of Nvwm LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Nvwm LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Apple by 5.5% during 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 buying an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in shares of Apple by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,214,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359,409 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $245.00 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.30, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $239.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.33.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.03.

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.