Artemis Investment Management LLP Has $186.21 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Artemis Investment Management LLP lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,347,630 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 77,825 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.1% of Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Apple were worth $186,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $221,753,959,000 after buying an additional 8,734,393 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.1% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 237,910,783 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $32,527,162,000 after buying an additional 4,831,418 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Apple by 8.2% during the second 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.5% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 80,739,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,097,970,000 after buying an additional 1,155,915 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 12.1% during the second quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 80,467,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,001,469,000 after buying an additional 8,716,964 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $125.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Apple to $167.00 in a report on Thursday, December 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 5th. Finally, Fundamental Research lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $168.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.44.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $142.53 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $138.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $124.17 and a one year high of $179.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The iPhone maker reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 25.31% and a return on equity of 160.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 4th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.06%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 176,299 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.95, for a total transaction of $27,493,829.05. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 110,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,259,454.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 176,299 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.95, for a total transaction of $27,493,829.05. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 110,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,259,454.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 20,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.72, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Profile

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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.