Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Has $508.49 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,235,966 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 81,553 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 6.6% of Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $508,488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its position in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Maxim Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $258.20 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $235.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $226.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.47, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $258.21.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS 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 in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % 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 valued at $117,004,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.