Michels Family Financial LLC Makes New $1.21 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Michels Family Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 4,832 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,000. Apple makes up 1.1% of Michels Family Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after acquiring an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 14.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James Financial 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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 reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.86.

Apple Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $196.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $202.29 and a 200-day moving average of $222.00. The company has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

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

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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.