Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Fisher Asset Management LLC’s Largest Position

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 59,290,044 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 674,991 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 5.9% of Fisher Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,847,413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,458,210 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $339,755,000 after purchasing an additional 6,092 shares during the period. Falcon Wealth Planning boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 269,437 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,779,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc grew its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the third quarter. Financial Partners Group Inc now owns 106,714 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $24,864,000 after purchasing an additional 778 shares during the period. Fiduciary Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 48.3% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Family Office LLC now owns 439,469 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $102,396,000 after purchasing an additional 143,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Apple by 2.4% during the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group LLC now owns 3,311 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $771,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $198.53 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $208.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $227.38. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Bank of America cut their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group cut their price objective 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. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.80.

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.