Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by BSW Wealth Partners

BSW Wealth Partners raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 102,547 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,265 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.0% of BSW Wealth Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. BSW Wealth Partners’ holdings in Apple were worth $17,585,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sky Investment Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the first quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 39,415 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,759,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Absher Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the first quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC now owns 112,297 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $19,257,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the first quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 106,276 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $18,224,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. Milestone Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 509.4% in the first quarter. Milestone Asset Management LLC now owns 45,460 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,796,000 after purchasing an additional 38,000 shares during the period. Finally, Swisher Financial Concepts Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 18.0% in the first quarter. Swisher Financial Concepts Inc. now owns 26,706 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,492,000 after buying an additional 4,072 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised 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. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Wedbush raised their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.44.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $3.10 during trading on Friday, reaching $189.98. 36,326,975 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 62,436,576. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $175.89 and a 200-day moving average of $183.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.91 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 371,270 shares of company stock worth $64,605,696 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.