China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 43,123 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 57.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,602 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,123 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 3.5% of China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Elite Life Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $963,000. Kelman Lazarov Inc. increased its position in Apple by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Kelman Lazarov Inc. now owns 15,862 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,054,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Monument Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 35,103 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,758,000 after purchasing an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV boosted its position in Apple by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 41,480 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,986,000 after buying an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 143.3% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 831,496 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $160,088,000 after purchasing an additional 489,712 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.17.

Apple Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $228.20 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $222.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $199.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.49, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 over the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple 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.