Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s 3rd Largest Position

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,274,630 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 54,599 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.5% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,461,989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.7% in the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 2.7% in the second quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in Apple by 1.8% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 3.8% in the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $232.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $241.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $231.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Apple Company 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.