BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Grows Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,252,147 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,699,474 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 5.9% of BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned 0.07% of Apple worth $2,388,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in Apple by 252.3% during the third 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 position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $239.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $241.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.75. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $262.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.05.

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.