Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC

Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 70,097 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.2% of Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Shulman DeMeo Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $12,020,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Apple by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Apple by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,677,190,000 after purchasing an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $221.55 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $195.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.85. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $221.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.24.

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

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 1st. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. DA Davidson upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

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.