GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Has $27.63 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPLFree Report) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 124,397 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,712 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 3.7% of GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Barclays set a $173.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.27.

View Our Latest Analysis on AAPL

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $208.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $203.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.50. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders 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. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

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