Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s Largest Position

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,986,549 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,941 shares during the period. Apple comprises 6.7% of IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $695,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Rogco LP boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Rogco LP now owns 21,288 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,960,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 4.3% during the third quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,223 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,081,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Mason & Associates Inc boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Mason & Associates Inc now owns 33,644 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,839,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 80.1% in the third quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 197,641 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $46,050,000 after purchasing an additional 87,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Planning LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 12.1% during the third quarter. Fiduciary Planning LLC now owns 14,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Maxim Group lifted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $236.78.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $254.49 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $255.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $234.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $225.70.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.