Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Increases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,881,140 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 805,253 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.5% of Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,768,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.3% in the third quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $238.03.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $245.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $239.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.30, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

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.