White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 97.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,007 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,737 shares during the period. Apple comprises 4.6% of White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. White Knight Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $195.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.47, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $202.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.47.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.86.

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.