Ballew Advisors Inc Purchases 191 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ballew Advisors Inc boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,842 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 191 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.9% of Ballew Advisors Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Ballew Advisors Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,316,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $209.07 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $189.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.94. The company has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

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

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded shares of 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 note on Tuesday, June 11th. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, June 6th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $212.46.

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.