Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lowered by Global X Japan Co. Ltd.

Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lowered its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 10,243 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.6% of Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Global X Japan Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $36,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $172.42 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $225.83 and a 200-day moving average of $232.01. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $241.23.

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.