Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA Takes Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 667,006 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $158,067,000. Apple accounts for 3.2% of Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $110,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $160,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 3.7 %

Apple stock opened at $205.35 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $212.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $228.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays reduced their target price on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James dropped their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.