Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Holdings Boosted by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 521,052 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,251 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.5% of Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $115,741,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.11.

Apple Trading Up 0.6%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $211.18 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.89, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a fifty day moving average of $204.57 and a 200-day moving average of $215.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

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.