Nordea Investment Management AB Purchases 1,503,647 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,051,418 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,503,647 shares during the period. Apple makes up 5.5% of Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.14% of Apple worth $5,301,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $244.60 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.83, 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 current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.68.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. 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 note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

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.