Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 28.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,300 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,827 shares during the quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 62,482,090 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $18,311,057,000 after acquiring an additional 789,746 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $13,759,345,000. Wealth Quarterback LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $3,783,310,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,450,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,005,385,000 after acquiring an additional 71,513 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 19,839,686 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,045,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,100,533 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.95% of the company’s stock.

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,491 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.62, for a total value of $1,372,539.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,252,419.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 9,137 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $285.12, for a total value of $2,605,141.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 95,752 shares of company stock valued at $24,750,125 in the last ninety days. 0.05% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on Apple from $350.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Apple from $360.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets boosted their target price on Apple from $297.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $335.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on Apple from $370.00 to $355.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and twenty-nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $303.38.

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $318.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1,396.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.17. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $170.27 and a twelve month high of $327.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $294.04 and a 200 day moving average of $287.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.26 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $58.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 64.49% and a net margin of 21.35%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up .5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.46 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 12.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.82 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 8th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.59%.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. It also sells various related services. 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, HomePod, iPod touch, and other Apple-branded and third-party accessories.

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