Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s 4th Largest Position

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,816,387 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 187,748 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 3.9% of BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $656,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Encompass More Asset Management raised its holdings in Apple by 347.2% during the third quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 18,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,236,000 after acquiring an additional 14,113 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the third quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 81,959 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $19,094,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Kolinsky Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,132 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,021,000 after purchasing an additional 2,106 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in Apple by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 9,583,232 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,232,893,000 after purchasing an additional 1,475,580 shares during the period. Finally, PDT Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,365,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $233.22 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $241.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

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.