E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Sep 7th, 2023

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 248,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,525 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.0% of E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $41,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. St. James Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 last quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 16,252.3% in the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 6,949,659 shares in the last quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 4th. Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Apple from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Apple from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.86.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Apple

Insider Activity at Apple

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

Apple Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $182.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $2.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.74, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $186.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.06. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $198.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 14th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.13%.

About Apple

(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.