Apple Inc. $AAPL is BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s 3rd Largest Position

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,527,783 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 98,720 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.8% of BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.05% of Apple worth $1,544,107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in 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 raised its holdings in Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. BMO Capital Markets restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their price target for the company from $203.07 to $246.99 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Melius Research set a $345.00 target price on Apple in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $278.53.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at $4,095,030.54. This trade represents a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.7%

Apple stock opened at $284.15 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The company has a market cap of $4.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $265.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

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.