Quilter Plc Has $264.22 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Quilter Plc raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,189,494 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 71,139 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.5% of Quilter Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Quilter Plc’s holdings in Apple were worth $264,222,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Legacy CG LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the first quarter. Legacy CG LLC now owns 22,117 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,913,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the first quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 227,980 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $50,641,000 after purchasing an additional 8,112 shares in the last quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the first quarter. Canvas Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 103,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,035,000 after purchasing an additional 1,581 shares in the last quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 7.0% during the first quarter. Old North State Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,308 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Enterprises LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.1% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Enterprises LLC now owns 40,142 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,917,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 4.2%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $229.35 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $206.84 and a 200 day moving average of $213.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $237.60.

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.