Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Boosted by Axiom Investors LLC DE

Axiom Investors LLC DE lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,723,822 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 182,654 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.2% of Axiom Investors LLC DE’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Axiom Investors LLC DE’s holdings in Apple were worth $431,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Apple by 10.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% 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 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $203.92 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $201.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $224.12. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.02.

Apple Company 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.