Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Prudential PLC’s 7th Largest Position

Prudential PLC cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,312,985 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 44,337 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.7% of Prudential PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $328,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp grew its position in Apple by 3,368.2% during the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Apple by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $192,700,000 after acquiring an additional 83,997 shares during the period. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Bank grew its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,433,000 after purchasing an additional 2,360 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.9%

AAPL opened at $198.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. 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 one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $200.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.60.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

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.