Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Bellecapital International Ltd.

Bellecapital International Ltd. raised its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 113,175 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,105 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.2% of Bellecapital International Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Bellecapital International Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 2,785,807 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,909,457,000 after acquiring an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Apple by 3.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,359,409 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Apple by 10.3% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 16,745,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,526,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557,848 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Moffett Nathanson decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $248.13 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $250.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $232.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $223.88.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.