Cardano Risk Management B.V. Buys 116,473 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cardano Risk Management B.V. increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,839,577 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 116,473 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 14.7% of Cardano Risk Management B.V.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Cardano Risk Management B.V.’s holdings in Apple were worth $961,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in Apple by 10.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after purchasing an additional 55,935,105 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after acquiring an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 6.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during 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 buying an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $245.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.02, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $240.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $232.29. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.