Journey Beyond Wealth LLC Invests $258,000 in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Journey Beyond Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $258,000. Apple comprises about 0.2% of Journey Beyond Wealth LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “cautious” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 5th. Raymond James decreased their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays cut their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.80.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.8%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $203.27 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $202.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.69.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.