Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,926,849 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 118,741 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.6% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Apple worth $7,980,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,045,000 after purchasing an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $113,062,000 after purchasing an additional 438,471 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. TD Cowen cut their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Apple Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $229.65 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $207.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results 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. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.