Independent Investors Inc. Has $230.35 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Independent Investors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,122,721 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 32,850 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 50.2% of Independent Investors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Independent Investors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $230,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares in the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 573,627.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 98,099,909 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $21,790,933,000 after buying an additional 984,157 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $252.29 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company’s 50-day moving average is $241.13 and its 200 day moving average is $216.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $205.82 to $205.16 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. HSBC set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Phillip Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.29.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.