Sound Income Strategies LLC Purchases 6,220 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,972 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 6,220 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 1.2% of Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,096,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CogentBlue Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 56.0% during the first quarter. CogentBlue Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,679 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after buying an additional 4,551 shares during the last quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.4% during the first quarter. Foster Victor Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 61,056 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,562,000 after buying an additional 3,103 shares during the last quarter. Pacific Sun Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the first quarter. Pacific Sun Financial Corp now owns 46,037 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,226,000 after buying an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 521,052 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,741,000 after buying an additional 7,251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 30,329 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,737,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays set a $173.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.11.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $211.18 on Friday. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $204.57 and its 200 day moving average is $215.61. The firm has a market cap 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.