Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buys 26,106 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,252,837 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,106 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.0% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $263,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter valued at $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14,145.8% in the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 158.3% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,977,582,000 after purchasing an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,502,068,000 after purchasing an additional 5,405,542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $834,368,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $222.91 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50-day moving average of $227.18 and a 200 day moving average of $212.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.15. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Maxim Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade 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. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 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.