Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Raised by Nova Wealth Management Inc.

Nova Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.1% of Nova Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Nova Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,261,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.1%

AAPL opened at $236.70 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $222.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.99. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 payout ratio is 15.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Phillip Securities cut Apple from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, September 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on Apple and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $240.80.

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.