Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s Largest Position

Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,663,544 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,531 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 6.9% of Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Achmea Investment Management B.V.’s holdings in Apple were worth $416,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of AAPL opened at $201.36 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $205.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.