Fortis Advisors LLC Buys 134 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fortis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,157 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.0% of Fortis Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Fortis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,590,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 27,838 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,184,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. James Hambro & Partners LLP boosted its stake in Apple by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. James Hambro & Partners LLP now owns 4,704 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 685,783 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $152,333,000 after purchasing an additional 20,913 shares in the last quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,365 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinion Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 98.9% during the 1st quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,586 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,794,000 after acquiring an additional 15,205 shares during the period. 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 company’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 transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $211.18 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. 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 current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $204.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $215.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for 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%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.11.

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.