Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ Takes Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 137,966 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $32,146,000. Apple makes up approximately 16.2% of Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP increased its position in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth about $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $242.65 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $242.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $229.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.74. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.91, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Melius Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.68.

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.