Apple Inc. $AAPL Holdings Raised by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,156,246 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,785 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.3% of Banco Santander S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Apple were worth $237,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. CLSA upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.22.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $278.63 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $280.38. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $263.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.59.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.64 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

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.