Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 21,886,668 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,577,062 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.8% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,099,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. BNC Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC now owns 90,501 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,087,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC grew its position in Apple by 6.0% during the third quarter. Jackson Square Capital LLC now owns 123,232 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $28,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,921 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its position in Apple by 5.8% during the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,727 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $868,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. David J Yvars Group grew its position in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. David J Yvars Group now owns 23,909 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,570,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GGM Financials LLC grew its position in Apple by 2.6% during the third quarter. GGM Financials LLC now owns 7,324 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Three 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.85.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $236.85 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $240.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.96, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue 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 Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

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.