Briaud Financial Planning Inc Increases Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Briaud Financial Planning Inc boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 59.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,321 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,865 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 1.1% of Briaud Financial Planning Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Briaud Financial Planning Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,584,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, 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 at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.9%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $206.86 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.83, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $205.87 and a 200-day moving average of $226.43.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple 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.