Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Beacon Wealthcare LLC

Beacon Wealthcare LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,099 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 0.4% of Beacon Wealthcare LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Beacon Wealthcare LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted 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 buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. 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. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $210.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $220.20. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.40. 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 released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is 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 issued a $0.25 dividend. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

About Apple

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.