Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Marion Wealth Management’s 10th Largest Position

Marion Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,643 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.2% of Marion Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Marion Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on AAPL. 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Three 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $234.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $201.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $202.52 and a 200-day moving average of $220.53. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.