1,449,984 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Bought by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,449,984 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $331,873,000. Apple makes up 4.0% of Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $6,694,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY lifted its position in shares of Apple by 11.2% in the third quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 348,141 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $81,117,000 after buying an additional 34,995 shares in the last quarter. Kitching Partners LLC bought a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Encompass More Asset Management boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 14,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 81,959 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $19,094,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $242.52.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the 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 $97,474,301.68. The trade was 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 Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $227.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $241.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $230.97. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio 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.