Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,880 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.9% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $2,044,000. ARK & TLK Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,580,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $9,904,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $4,681,000. Finally, A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Maxim Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $203.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.27.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $231.30 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $224.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $206.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month 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. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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.