Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ Maintains Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ continued to hold its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,900 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock at the end of the first quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.7% of Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Delta Lloyd NV boosted its position in shares of Apple by 13.1% in the first quarter. Delta Lloyd NV now owns 750,752 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $107,846,000 after buying an additional 86,711 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Holdings Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Apple by 32.1% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Securities Holdings Co. Ltd. now owns 6,290 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $904,000 after buying an additional 1,530 shares in the last quarter. Bank Hapoalim BM boosted its stake in Apple by 104.1% in the first quarter. Bank Hapoalim BM now owns 42,084 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,046,000 after buying an additional 21,461 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 8.4% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 130,606 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,763,000 after buying an additional 10,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wisconsin Investment Board raised its position in shares of Apple by 15.5% in the first quarter. State of Wisconsin Investment Board now owns 5,578,551 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $801,415,000 after buying an additional 749,158 shares during the last quarter. 61.50% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ AAPL) opened at 157.86 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $151.60 and its 200-day moving average is $145.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $815.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92 and a beta of 1.31. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.53 and a 52 week high of $162.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.57 by $0.10. Apple had a return on equity of 35.40% and a net margin of 20.87%. The firm had revenue of $45.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post $9.02 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.64%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 6.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. UBS AG reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, July 31st. Bank of America Corporation restated a “buy” rating and issued a $180.00 price target (up from $155.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Saturday, July 22nd. Mizuho restated a “buy” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $167.38.

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.58, for a total transaction of $5,515,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,168,283 shares in the company, valued at $184,098,035.14. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Luca Maestri sold 4,757 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.70, for a total value of $735,907.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $528,145.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 294,171 shares of company stock worth $45,707,922. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company Profile

Apple Inc (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players, and a variety of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. The Company’s products and services include iPhone, iPad, Mac, iPod, Apple TV, a portfolio of consumer and professional software applications, the iOS and OS X operating systems, iCloud, and a variety of accessory, service and support offerings.