Bernard Wealth Management Corp. Buys Shares of 92,778 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 92,778 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $23,233,000. Apple makes up approximately 10.7% of Bernard Wealth Management Corp.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value 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 approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $201.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $221.71.

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

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Three equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.86.

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.