Impax Asset Management Group plc Has $193.70 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Impax Asset Management Group plc trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,006,086 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 14,329 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Apple were worth $193,702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Asset Planning Corporation boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Family CFO Inc raised its stake in Apple by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Family CFO Inc now owns 950 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $163,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 6.0 %

AAPL stock opened at $183.38 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $172.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $181.67. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 153.25%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.93%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Itau BBA Securities upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.11.

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.