Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s 3rd Largest Position

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,190,986 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 280,049 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 5.4% of Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,321,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 21,618 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,414,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Jericho Financial LLP purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,657,000. Berkshire Money Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Money Management Inc. now owns 23,133 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,646 shares in the last quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Apple by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 1,078,580 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $270,098,000 after purchasing an additional 165,039 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jackson Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 202,301 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $50,660,000 after buying an additional 4,660 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

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 research report on Friday, January 31st. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $245.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 7.3 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $188.38 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $229.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $232.96. The stock has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

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.