E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 46.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 527,427 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 168,079 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 6.6% of E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $132,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after acquiring an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 98,099,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,566,054,000 after acquiring an additional 3,156,680 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 91,568,390 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,335,435,000 after buying an additional 1,742,087 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Wedbush lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $211.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $206.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.84.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

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.