Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Lifted by Grant Private Wealth Management Inc

Grant Private Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,795 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 682 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.2% of Grant Private Wealth Management Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Grant Private Wealth Management Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the first quarter. American Institute for Advanced Investment Management LLP now owns 22,612 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,023,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Dover Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 45.1% in the first quarter. Dover Advisors LLC now owns 78,540 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,446,000 after acquiring an additional 24,403 shares in the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 33,247 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,385,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.9% in the first quarter. Avaii Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,824,000 after acquiring an additional 801 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CRA Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the first quarter. CRA Financial Services LLC now owns 202,756 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $45,038,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.11.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $211.18 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $204.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $215.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released 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 net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company 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 earned $1.53 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, 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 value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’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 owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Company 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.