Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,237 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,969 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.6% of Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,992,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $207.82 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $219.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the 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 sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Tigress Financial raised their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.95.

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.