Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Raised by 1776 Wealth LLC

1776 Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 125,680 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 13.4% of 1776 Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. 1776 Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. DA Davidson upped their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $201.36 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $205.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $226.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board 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.