Northwest Wealth Management LLC Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Northwest Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,255 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 2.1% of Northwest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Northwest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were 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 directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $232.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $213.37.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Apple 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.