Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Natixis Advisors LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,735,785 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 543,332 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 3.6% of Natixis Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Apple worth $1,937,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $195.27 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $205.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.94. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is 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.