Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Sells 389,633 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 12.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,816,365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 389,633 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.4% of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Apple were worth $482,950,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Wolf Group Capital Advisors now owns 40,306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,284 shares in the last quarter. Crane Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Crane Advisory LLC now owns 16,655 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,018,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares in the last quarter. Landmark Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Landmark Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,446 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 129.2% during the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 9,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 5,362 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $225.89 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $219.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $193.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, August 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $233.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 188,884 shares of company stock worth $38,092,387 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.