Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Persium Advisors LLC’s 6th Largest Position

Persium Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 16.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,783 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 811 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.2% of Persium Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Persium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,285,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted 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 worth $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth 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. Finally, Disciplined Investments LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $213.36 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $203.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $218.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.