Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning Acquires 19,612 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 65.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,679 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 19,612 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.9% of Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its position in Apple by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $456,728,000 after purchasing an additional 435,891 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. increased its position in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Markel Corp increased its position in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $210,752,000 after purchasing an additional 8,450 shares during the last quarter. Camden Capital LLC increased its position in Apple by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,305,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $173.31 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $155.98 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $181.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $182.73. The company has a market capitalization of $2.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.27.

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.