Retirement Planning Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Retirement Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 91,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,596 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.2% of Retirement Planning Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Retirement Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its stake in 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 in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $210.62 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.31. 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 Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $220.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors 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 0.47%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 247,087 shares of company stock valued at $44,016,111 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Melius Research increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.