Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC

Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,313,992 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 26,035 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 5.1% of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,581,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Aviva PLC increased its holdings in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 9,313,623 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,332,317,000 after purchasing an additional 328,937 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Capital Management LLP boosted its holdings in Apple by 190.3% during the fourth quarter. Gladstone Capital Management LLP now owns 713,037 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $178,559,000 after buying an additional 467,434 shares during the last quarter. Pilgrim Partners Asia Pte Ltd bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $2,439,000. Oarsman Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 40,635 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,176,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $1,116,983,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $199.20 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $201.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $223.37. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

About Apple

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.