Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Boosted by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 119.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,031,856 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 562,532 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.4% of Bridgewater Associates LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in Apple were worth $240,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 22,870.6% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 5,590,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,302,607,000 after buying an additional 5,566,250 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $232.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The business’s fifty day moving average is $241.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $230.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, 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 sale, the chief operating officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James raised their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 20th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Four 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

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.