Fred Alger Management LLC Purchases 447,894 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fred Alger Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,771,308 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 447,894 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.9% of Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Fred Alger Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,004,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Apple by 5.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after buying an additional 2,785,807 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Apple by 7.1% during 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 in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 3.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065,759 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,061,296,000 after purchasing an additional 485,873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Apple by 13.4% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 20,008,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,214,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,359,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 412,746 shares of company stock worth $93,021,362. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $224.23 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $226.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $214.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

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.