Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,782 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 3,782 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $947,000. Apple comprises approximately 0.8% of Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $196.58 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $202.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $222.30.

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

Apple announced that its board has approved 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were 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 approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was 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 have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.86.

About Apple

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.