Apple Inc. $AAPL is Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ Largest Position

Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 33.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 378,086 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 95,796 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.2% of Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Arkadios Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $83,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tredje AP fonden lifted its position in shares of Apple by 10.7% during the first quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 3,361,359 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $746,659,000 after purchasing an additional 325,815 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 1,148,191 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $255,048,000 after buying an additional 6,830 shares during the period. Squire Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Squire Investment Management Company LLC now owns 6,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 385,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $85,523,000 after buying an additional 11,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orca Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.5% during the first quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC now owns 59,312 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,175,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $239.78 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $218.50 and a 200 day moving average of $212.89. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.05.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently 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.