Steele Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Steele Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 132,832 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.5% of Steele Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Steele Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,506,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, 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. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group set a $210.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.11.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $210.02 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $204.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s 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.