Apple Inc. $AAPL is Forsta AP Fonden’s 4th Largest Position

Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,003,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 64,700 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 5.4% of Forsta AP Fonden’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Apple were worth $821,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% in the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter worth $58,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $280.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total value of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $278.78 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $266.03 and a 200-day moving average of $234.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.12 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.32, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $288.62.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple Company 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.