Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,958,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,476 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.9% of Jennison Associates LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.27% of Apple worth $9,543,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Optas LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 10.8% in the second quarter. Optas LLC now owns 70,806 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,913,000 after acquiring an additional 6,896 shares in the last quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Apple by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 79,411 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,726,000 after purchasing an additional 5,386 shares during the last quarter. Keb Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Keb Asset Management LLC now owns 13,755 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,897,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 666,570 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $140,393,000 after purchasing an additional 22,386 shares during the last quarter. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC increased its stake in Apple by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 9,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,070,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, 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 own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup lifted their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Apple from $184.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned 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, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.05.

Apple Trading Up 3.7 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $238.26 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $240.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.