Plato Investment Management Ltd Increases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 349,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,285 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 6.9% of Plato Investment Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $73,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth about $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after buying an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Apple by 158.3% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after buying an additional 7,067,379 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 161.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $834,368,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.3 %

AAPL stock opened at $222.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $227.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.49 by $0.15. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.23.

Apple 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.