Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s 5th Largest Position

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,970,982 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 369,820 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 3.3% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $625,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 157.9% during the 2nd quarter. Beam Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 31,612 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,658,000 after buying an additional 19,354 shares during the period. RPG Investment Advisory LLC raised its position in Apple by 13.0% in the second quarter. RPG Investment Advisory LLC now owns 133,173 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,049,000 after purchasing an additional 15,290 shares during the period. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $690,000. Provident Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 26.0% during the 2nd quarter. Provident Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,099 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,877 shares during the period. Finally, Sachetta LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 33,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,224,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.91.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $231.41 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $226.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm 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. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.