Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Sells 737,679 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,194,450 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 737,679 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 4.4% of Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,270,915,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in 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 buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Apple by 27.4% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 68,190,569 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,870,795,000 after purchasing an additional 14,651,321 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.6%

AAPL stock opened at $258.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $265.29. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $242.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $218.02.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, CLSA raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $252.47.

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.