Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC’s 3rd Largest Position

B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 83,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,765 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.0% of B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. B.O.S.S. Retirement Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $16,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. McBroom & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC now owns 36,369 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,227,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Essex LLC raised its stake in Apple by 13.1% during the third quarter. Essex LLC now owns 32,403 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,548,000 after buying an additional 3,755 shares during the last quarter. ETF Portfolio Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. ETF Portfolio Partners Inc. now owns 10,260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,757,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Shore Point Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 9.8% in the third quarter. Shore Point Advisors LLC now owns 6,375 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.3% during the third quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 396,182 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $67,830,000 after acquiring an additional 8,803 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $183.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.60. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.52, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 153.25% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.93%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 price target (up previously from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Finally, UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.00.

About Apple

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.