Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Sells 330,048 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,390,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 330,048 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.7% of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ’s holdings in Apple were worth $744,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MKT Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. MKT Advisors LLC now owns 12,269 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP raised its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 6,339 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Aufman Associates Inc raised its stake in Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Aufman Associates Inc now owns 7,674 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Silver Oak Advisory Group Inc. now owns 3,925 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $537,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Finally, Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Lowe Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,993 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. National Bank Financial lowered their price target on Apple to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. set a $175.00 price target on Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 1st. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Apple from $167.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Credit Suisse Group set a $184.00 target price on Apple in a report on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.24.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $150.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.57, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $143.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.89. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $124.17 and a 12 month high of $179.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 163.45% and a net margin of 24.56%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a $0.23 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.62%.

Apple Company 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.