Apple Inc. $AAPL is Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super’s 3rd Largest Position

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,978,658 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,556 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 6.0% of Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super’s holdings in Apple were worth $405,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth $58,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $272.41 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $255.92 and its 200 day moving average is $226.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $4.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.34, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $277.32.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 13.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the company from $203.07 to $246.99 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This trade represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.