Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Meitav Investment House Ltd.

Meitav Investment House Ltd. boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 161,220 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Apple by 130.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,430,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,815,594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331,439 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $487,435,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after buying an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $182.74 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $172.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $181.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $204.11.

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.