Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Acquired by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,304,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,856,818 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 4.8% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,012,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $311,157,662,000 after buying an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in Apple by 573,627.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Apple by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 98,099,909 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $21,790,933,000 after acquiring an additional 984,157 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 1.2%

AAPL stock opened at $280.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.10. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $288.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $265.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.64 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, November 9th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.53.

About Apple

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.