Fragasso Group Inc. Purchases 6,795 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fragasso Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 287,606 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,795 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 4.2% of Fragasso Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Fragasso Group Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $49,319,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Melius Research increased their target price on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $210.83.

Apple Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $208.14 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $188.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $220.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.52 EPS. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 in the last 90 days. 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.