Czech National Bank Buys 350,505 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,097,244 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 350,505 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 7.3% of Czech National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $721,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 127.4% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,943,000 after acquiring an additional 42,282 shares during the last quarter. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. ORBA Wealth Advisors L.L.C. now owns 71,286 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,224,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 34.8% during the 1st quarter. Rempart Asset Management Inc. now owns 10,980 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after acquiring an additional 2,835 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 207,788 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,615,000 after acquiring an additional 40,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 15.9% during the 1st quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 4,961 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $851,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $228.44 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $227.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $217.47. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.57, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.