Covea Finance raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 535,442 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 62,960 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 6.0% of Covea Finance’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Covea Finance’s holdings in Apple were worth $134,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. O Connor Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Latitude Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Analyst Ratings Changes
AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.
View Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
Apple Stock Performance
AAPL opened at $240.36 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $240.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.39. The firm has a market cap of $3.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.
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.
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