Smith Group Asset Management LLC Has $56.65 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 255,009 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,129 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 4.2% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $56,645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st 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. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $231.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day moving average of $209.69 and a 200-day moving average of $213.14. The company has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.14, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.