Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Sarasin & Partners LLP’s Largest Position

Sarasin & Partners LLP decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,804,497 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 224,837 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 6.2% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $653,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Apple by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,369,852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474,887 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,759 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its position in Apple by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,214,222,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359,409 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.68.

Apple Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $237.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.81. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $229.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 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.