Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC

ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,686 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,158 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.2% of ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Sky Capital Consultants Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $8,297,000. Three Cord True Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $662,000. Warm Springs Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,444,000. Richmond Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $2,391,000. Finally, Columbia River Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $492,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.86.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $196.58 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted 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 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 0.53%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.