Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC Buys 568 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 37,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.3% of Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arcus Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Arcus Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,181 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,599,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Buttonwood Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 15,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 843 shares during the period. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 900.1% during the third quarter. Edmonds Duncan Registered Investment Advisors LLC now owns 295,556 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $50,602,000 after buying an additional 266,003 shares during the last quarter. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 10.9% during the third quarter. PPS&V Asset Management Consultants Inc. now owns 36,478 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,245,000 after purchasing an additional 3,571 shares during the period. Finally, MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,486 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,651,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.72.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Up 6.0 %

AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average is $172.15 and its 200 day moving average is $181.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.95%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.