Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,887,520 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,126 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 5.7% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.07% of Apple worth $2,303,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during 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 last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.63 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $241.26 and its 200-day moving average is $231.04. The firm has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current 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 yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Maxim Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

About Apple

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.