Centre Asset Management LLC Has $28.13 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Centre Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,565 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 6.5% of Centre Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Centre Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,283,000 after buying an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,782,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $261.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Melius Research boosted their target price on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $233.63.

Apple Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $226.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $220.32 and its 200 day moving average is $194.44.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.