10,194 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Acquired by Abound Financial LLC

Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 10,194 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,553,000. Apple accounts for approximately 1.3% of Abound Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 6.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $77,542,863,000 after purchasing an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,779,231,000 after purchasing an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,285.2% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 9,628,864 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,411,260,000 after buying an additional 9,590,933 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $213.32 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $212.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $228.83. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $202.33 to $167.88 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.63.

Apple Company Profile

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.