Altus Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Altus Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 27.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,453 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,048 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 0.9% of Altus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Altus Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its holdings in 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 during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its position in 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 worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Maxim Group boosted their price target on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 2.9 %

Apple stock opened at $216.75 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $220.20. The business’s fifty day moving average is $192.13 and its 200 day moving average is $185.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. 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 payout ratio is 15.55%.

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

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.