Global Wealth Strategies & Associates Increases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Global Wealth Strategies & Associates grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,991 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 0.7% of Global Wealth Strategies & Associates’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates’ holdings in Apple were worth $1,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 11.8% in the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after purchasing an additional 1,643 shares during the period. Headinvest LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $38,406,000. Finally, Barden Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on AAPL. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 4th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $164.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $214.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $185.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $184.36. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.