Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires 227,173 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,759,611 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 227,173 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.4% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,476,809,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the second quarter valued at $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 412,746 shares of company stock worth $93,021,362. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.48 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.41, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $226.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $213.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.