NatWest Group plc Purchases 63,377 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

NatWest Group plc lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 75.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,832 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,377 shares during the period. Apple makes up 10.2% of NatWest Group plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. NatWest Group plc’s holdings in Apple were worth $34,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Apple by 127.4% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,943,000 after purchasing an additional 42,282 shares during the last quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd lifted its stake in Apple by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 150,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,809,000 after buying an additional 20,430 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 89,259 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,306,000 after buying an additional 1,139 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Apple by 30.4% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,297,008 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $393,891,000 after buying an additional 535,917 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Magnolia Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 255.2% in the first quarter. Magnolia Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,387 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,798,000 after acquiring an additional 11,774 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Moffett Nathanson reduced their target price on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 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 approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $247.77 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $230.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The company has a market cap of $3.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 40.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $248.21.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.