Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Sells 17,796 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 71,669 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 17,796 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. grew its position in shares of Apple by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 3,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $729,000 after buying an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.4% in the second quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,107,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 5,404 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 209.2% during the 1st quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 target price (up previously from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Melius lifted their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.51.

Apple Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $278.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $268.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $237.03. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $288.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.11 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.25, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.05% and a net margin of 26.92%.The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.92%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.