Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 178,944 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp trimmed its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,466,402 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 178,944 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 4.9% of Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp owned approximately 0.06% of Apple worth $1,880,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $239.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.37, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.86. 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 fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.05.

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.