Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Banco Santander S.A.’s 5th Largest Position

Banco Santander S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,006,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,009 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.8% of Banco Santander S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Apple were worth $234,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,302,607,000 after purchasing an additional 5,566,250 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 27,882,996 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,496,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Maxim Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Loop Capital cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $238.05.

Apple Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $237.62 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.08, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $241.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.81. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.