Banco Santander S.A. Has $238.89 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,075,461 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 77,977 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.6% of Banco Santander S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Apple were worth $238,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $147,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.0%

Apple stock opened at $239.69 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $219.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

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.