Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $5.10 Billion Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,886,668 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,577,062 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.8% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.14% of Apple worth $5,099,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc increased its stake in Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 34.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management increased its stake in Apple by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $236.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $240.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Maxim Group upped 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was 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 owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.