Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $2.87 Billion Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,476,304 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 315,628 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.8% of Victory Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,873,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $288,000. Vestcor Inc increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.1% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $87,501,000 after acquiring an additional 34,414 shares in the last quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 32.9% during the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,518,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. Simmons Bank increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $4,972,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup restated a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of AAPL opened at $212.93 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $207.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Company 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.