Amundi Acquires 197,168 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Amundi raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 53,539,248 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 197,168 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.5% of Amundi’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Amundi owned 0.36% of Apple worth $12,999,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 10.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 6.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 3.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 3,156,680 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,742,087 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 0.1%

Apple stock opened at $211.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.16 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $206.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.66. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Maxim Group raised their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.