AIA Group Ltd Acquires 17,960 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Aug 9th, 2023

AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 43.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 59,254 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,960 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 0.5% of AIA Group Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,771,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. St. James Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 98.3% in the fourth quarter. St. James Investment Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $93,000. Finally, Sonnipe Ltd bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $104,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.89% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $179.80 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.81 and a two-hundred day simple 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. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.22, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.17 and a 1-year high of $198.23.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to buyback $90.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 5th. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, May 22nd. 51job reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 2nd. Finally, 58.com reissued a “maintains” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, June 5th. 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.86.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Apple

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total transaction of $2,753,216.64. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Company 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.