Great West Life Assurance Co. Can purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,705,790 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,890,884,000. Apple comprises about 5.4% of Great West Life Assurance Co. Can’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can owned about 0.09% of Apple at the end of the most recent reporting period.
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Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 42.8% in the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 299,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,993,000 after buying an additional 89,865 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.4% in the second quarter. Emerald Advisors LLC now owns 19,905 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,721,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 35.7% in the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 25,608 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,501,000 after purchasing an additional 6,735 shares during the period. Callan Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the second quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 85,226 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,652,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the period. Finally, Sageworth Trust Co boosted its holdings in Apple by 150.3% in the second quarter. Sageworth Trust Co now owns 5,798 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $793,000 after purchasing an additional 3,482 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.
Apple Price Performance
Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $151.01 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $179.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $138.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.98.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. The firm had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $121.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.62%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple
In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 20,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.72, for a total transaction of $3,004,144.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,685,423.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, February 6th. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 12th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.49.
Apple Company Profile
Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.
Further Reading
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