M&G Plc Raises Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

M&G Plc lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 42.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 292,852 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 87,242 shares during the quarter. M&G Plc’s holdings in Apple were worth $68,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Two Point Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.7% in the third quarter. Two Point Capital Management Inc. now owns 76,625 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $17,854,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. Dechtman Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Dechtman Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,367 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,444,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. American Capital Advisory LLC now owns 25,428 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,925,000 after acquiring an additional 917 shares during the period. CV Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. CV Advisors LLC now owns 53,577 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,483,000 after acquiring an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 72,705 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,940,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $236.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $240.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Apple to $184.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.85.

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.