Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock gained 18% during the December quarter. But the number of shares owned by big funds fell by 1.7% in the same period. According to the fourth quarter 13F filings of hedge funds, the tech giant topped the list in terms of the number of funds holding the stock and the value of their positions.
772 funds added to their Apple positions
According to Whale Wisdom, 772 funds with more than $100K in AUM added to their existing holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). Another 238 funds created new positions in the stock. Meanwhile, 72 funds sold off their entire Apple holdings and 775 funds reduced their positions in the world’s most valuable company. Shares of the Cupertino-based tech giant gained 18% during the quarter to close December 31 at $557.68. The 1.68% decline in the number of shares owned by hedge funds was mainly due to the iPhone maker buying its own stock.
The biggest buyer of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares during the last quarter was Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS), which purchased 1.36 million shares of the company. That make sense give Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty has a Buy rating on the stock with $630 price target. But JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM)’s holdings are a bit confusing. It sold 1.69 million shares of the iPhone maker during the December quarter, though JPMorgan analyst Mark Moskowitz has an Overweight rating on the stock.
Investors must be happy with Apple
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rewarded those investors very well who bought its stock in Q4. When the tech giant reported its December quarter earnings, the media tagged it as “disappointing,” though its revenues, profits and iPhone sales reached new record highs. As a result, the stock skidded from $550 to around $503 overnight. The Cupertino-based company saw it as a perfect opportunity to repurchase its own shares on the dip. Earlier this month, Tim Cook announced that the company spent a staggering $14 billion on buybacks. The company purchased 28 million of its own shares in just a few weeks.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has spent $42 billion to buy about 84.5 million shares over the past two years. Last April, the company increased its share repurchase authorization to $60 billion from $10 billion.
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares skidded 0.63% to $542.58 at 10:22 AM EST on Wednesday.
