Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 25.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,536,434 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 720,069 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.5% of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Apple were worth $744,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Apple by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Apple by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474,887 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,061,296,000 after buying an additional 485,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Apple by 13.4% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,214,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359,409 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. Maxim Group boosted their target price 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. Raymond James boosted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $224.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $226.82 and a 200 day moving average of $214.68. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.88, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 412,746 shares of company stock valued at $93,021,362. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.