Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ Takes $27.26 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 122,714 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $27,258,000. Apple comprises approximately 27.1% of Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $231.59 on Friday. 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $209.69 and its 200 day moving average is $213.14. 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for 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%. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.