Wellington Management Group LLP Has $11.68 Billion Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.2% of Wellington Management Group LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Wellington Management Group LLP owned approximately 0.39% of Apple worth $11,677,190,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,519,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the third quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,605,195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,576 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Maxim Group started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price for the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $196.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.47.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $212.49 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $220.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $183.77 and a 200-day moving average of $184.01.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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.