Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 7,201 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,201 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,600,000. Apple accounts for 1.5% of Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction, the insider 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays set a $173.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.94.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $213.88 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $204.77 and its 200-day moving average is $214.38. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback 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 buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm 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 boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.