Banque Transatlantique SA Purchases 3,258,726 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Banque Transatlantique SA lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 260.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,508,384 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,258,726 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 17.3% of Banque Transatlantique SA’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Banque Transatlantique SA’s holdings in Apple were worth $925,467,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.9% during the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.5% during the first quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $892,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,184,000 after buying 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 AAPL opened at $234.07 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $221.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.39. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The business 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted 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. Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $240.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at 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.