GoalVest Advisory LLC Has $1.86 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

GoalVest Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 53.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,835 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,757 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 0.6% of GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position. GoalVest Advisory LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,858,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Flagstone Financial Management increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation increased its holdings in Apple by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stableford Capital II LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the first quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 17,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,942,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now 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 quarter, insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Apple stock opened at $221.55 on Thursday. 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 fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $221.55. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $194.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.60.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication 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.