Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A. bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 84,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $14,010,000. Apple comprises about 4.4% of Verde Servicos Internacionais S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd grew its position in shares of Apple by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $456,728,000 after buying an additional 435,891 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,016,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Markel Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after buying an additional 8,450 shares during the last quarter. Camden Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after buying an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,629,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.89% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $220.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 4th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $174.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $198.86.

View Our Latest Analysis on AAPL

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

AAPL stock opened at $178.61 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $198.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $186.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.28.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.07. Apple had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 164.92%. The business had revenue of $81.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $81.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.13%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total value of $2,753,216.64. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Read More

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat’s editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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