ST Germain D J Co. Inc. Has $114.76 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 544,856 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 18,580 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.6% of ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $114,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Apple by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,360 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 54,702,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,531,834,000 after buying an additional 1,067,587 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in Apple by 7.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,369,852,000 after acquiring an additional 2,474,887 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Apple from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Maxim Group boosted their price objective on Apple from $195.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.63.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction 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. Insiders sold 188,884 shares of company stock worth $38,092,387 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $227.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $220.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $194.75. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.