Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Lifted by Everhart Financial Group Inc.

Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 13.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 122,987 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,259 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 3.7% of Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $27,319,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.27.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $210.16 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $204.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $216.41. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.74, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. 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 0.49%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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.