Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,884,086 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 18,996 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 4.6% of DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale owned approximately 0.07% of Apple worth $2,487,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $206,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $258.20 on Thursday. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.47, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $235.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $226.77. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $258.21.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. 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.