LGT Group Foundation Increases Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

LGT Group Foundation lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,009,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 197,273 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 6.2% of LGT Group Foundation’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. LGT Group Foundation’s holdings in Apple were worth $446,423,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thomas Story & Son LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Thomas Story & Son LLC now owns 47,665 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 12,772,568 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,833,920,000 after purchasing an additional 718,702 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 1,329,161 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $295,247,000 after purchasing an additional 16,176 shares during the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Apple by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,737,484 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,049,321,000 after acquiring an additional 289,892 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iyo Bank Ltd. grew its holdings in Apple by 18.0% during the 1st quarter. Iyo Bank Ltd. now owns 78,680 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,477,000 after acquiring an additional 11,990 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $234.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $220.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $212.50. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.99.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value 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 trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently 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.