Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC

Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 42,484 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,575 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.9% of Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,639,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Simmons Bank lifted its stake in Apple by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,905,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,670,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,723,104 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $876,483,000 after purchasing an additional 103,856 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Maxim Group upped their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, China Renaissance started coverage on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $208.78 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $205.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 repurchase 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.

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.