[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] As Apple, the leading stock in the New York stock market, shows a sluggish performance this year, the contrasting investment moves of major investors are drawing attention.
Apple's stock price rose 80.8% last year but has fallen 8.5% as of the 5th of this year. The underperformance of this leading stock is one of the reasons for the recent increased volatility in the New York stock market.
As Apple’s stock price surged last year, some major investors sold their Apple shares, while the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) was confirmed to have bought Apple shares instead.
According to the investment magazine Barron's on the 7th (local time), CPPIB purchased an additional 969,407 Apple shares in the fourth quarter of last year, increasing its total holdings to 7.3 million shares.
CPPIB is a Canadian pension fund and one of the world’s largest investors. As of the end of last year, it manages assets worth $376 billion. CPPIB’s purchase of Apple shares contrasts with the recent moves of other major investors.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold about 57 million Apple shares in the fourth quarter of last year. The foundation established by Microsoft founder Bill Gates also halved its Apple shares in the same period. The Gates Foundation’s Apple holdings decreased from 2,004,176 shares at the end of the third quarter to 1,002,088 shares at the end of the fourth quarter.
Despite the contrasting investment moves of major investors, Wall Street continues to offer a positive outlook on Apple.
Tony Sacconaghi, an analyst at Bernstein, recently described the decline in Apple’s stock price as a buying opportunity. Sacconaghi explained that the recent weakness in Apple’s stock price is due to the fact that it rose too much last year and that last year there was a clear positive catalyst with the launch of the iPhone 12, whereas now there is no such catalyst. He maintained his investment rating on Apple as outperform and kept the target price at $132.
Despite Buffett’s large-scale sales, some analysts believe it is merely profit-taking and that Buffett’s positive view on Apple has not changed. Despite the large sales, Apple accounts for 43% of the assets held by Berkshire Hathaway, which manages $227 billion in assets. Although this is down from 48% at the beginning of last year, it still represents an absolute proportion.
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