Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC Has $472,000 Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 31.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,123 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the period. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.6%

AAPL opened at $201.56 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $202.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $220.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.40, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22.

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

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the 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 directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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.