Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Has $70.99 Million Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 44.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 346,027 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 279,848 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $70,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Apple Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $286.19 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $287.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $264.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $4.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.64 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. CLSA raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $241.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective (up previously from $245.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, October 31st. DZ Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $300.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.53.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.