AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Has $485.94 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 21.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,940,721 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 543,803 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 6.4% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in Apple were worth $485,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in Apple by 254.9% in the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 107,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,543,000 after purchasing an additional 76,870 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth approximately $4,442,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at approximately $11,587,000. Gibson Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter. Gibson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,894 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,452,000 after purchasing an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 275,702 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $58,068,000 after buying an additional 32,203 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $214.00 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $233.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $233.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued 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.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.22.

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.