Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 64.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 860 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,530 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.3% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.1%

AAPL stock opened at $214.05 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $204.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.22. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays set a $173.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.94.

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.