Aviva PLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Aviva PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,313,623 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 328,937 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 6.1% of Aviva PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Aviva PLC owned about 0.06% of Apple worth $2,332,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Apple by 3.3% during the 4th 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, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 59,290,044 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,847,413,000 after acquiring an additional 674,991 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $199.20 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $223.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. 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 yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.