Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Krane Funds Advisors LLC

Krane Funds Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,508 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,455 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 0.1% of Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,334,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. DA Davidson reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Apple Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $230.89 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $210.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.94.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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

Insider Activity

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 transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Apple

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.