Ninety One SA PTY Ltd Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 9th, 2023

Ninety One SA PTY Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,588 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 543 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.8% of Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Cassia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $651,000 after buying an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. Starfox Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 21.5% in the fourth quarter. Starfox Financial Services LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Arista Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,680 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,399,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,148,000. Finally, Factory Mutual Insurance Co. raised its holdings in Apple by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 2,340,129 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $304,053,000 after purchasing an additional 115,929 shares during the period. 57.89% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $179.80 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.17 and a 1-year high of $198.23. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day moving average of $187.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. The company had revenue of $81.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 4th that allows the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.13%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total value of $2,753,216.64. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,363,619.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Fundamental Research set a $183.86 price objective on Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 17th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $198.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 20th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.86.

Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on Apple

Apple Profile

(Free Report)

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.