Amundi Acquires 14,651,321 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Amundi raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 27.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,190,569 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,651,321 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 5.0% of Amundi’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Amundi owned about 0.46% of Apple worth $13,870,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $234.07 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $221.50 and a 200-day moving average of $212.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.52, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. 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.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS 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 paid 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 yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.