Sage Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sage Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,056 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 959 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 7.0% of Sage Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Sage Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the first quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Avid Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 28.3% during the first quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,045,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $113,062,000 after acquiring an additional 438,471 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $231.59 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.33. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $237.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.