Bank of New York Mellon Corp Lowers Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 112,393,661 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,957,048 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 4.5% of Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,672,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,912,466,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,026,492,000. Global Assets Advisory LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 23,076.4% in the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,584,512,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 2.9 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $226.21 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $222.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $203.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, KeyCorp restated a “hold” rating and issued a $247.61 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Company Profile

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.