Guerra Advisors Inc Boosts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Guerra Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,590 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.4% of Guerra Advisors Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Guerra Advisors Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Apple Stock Up 1.6%

Apple stock opened at $233.33 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $208.49 and a 200 day moving average of $213.35.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently 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.