ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Sells 6,424 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,443 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,424 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.3% of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 116,483.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $74,002,245,000 after buying an additional 569,066,184 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $21,746,940,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,110,586,000 after buying an additional 25,926,552 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 60.0% in the second quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,932,352 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,103,464,000 after buying an additional 17,604,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 154.9% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 23,295,770 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,729,270,000 after buying an additional 14,157,430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $168.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $175.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $182.21. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $162.80 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler Companies cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $220.00 to $205.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

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.