Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s 2nd Largest Position

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,350 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,118 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 5.8% of Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 88.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $206,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 1.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $255.59 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $237.41 and a 200 day moving average of $227.79. The company has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.47.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.