Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,361,882 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 208,845 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.9% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Apple were worth $464,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 123,534,393 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,889,649,000 after buying an additional 9,411,018 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after buying an additional 8,734,393 shares in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 12.1% in the 2nd quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 80,467,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,001,469,000 after buying an additional 8,716,964 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 71,060,708 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,407,910,000 after purchasing an additional 8,230,300 shares during the period. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 29,097.9% during the 1st quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,300,881 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 5,282,726 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 20,200 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.72, for a total value of $3,004,144.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 31,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,685,423.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, November 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. DA Davidson cut their price target on Apple to $167.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 1st. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $125.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $166.44.
Apple Stock Performance
NASDAQ AAPL opened at $143.96 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.06. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $179.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.24.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The iPhone maker reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $90.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.77 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.90% and a net margin of 25.31%. Apple’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current year.
About Apple
Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.
Further Reading
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