Sar Wealth Management Group LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sar Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,402 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,013 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.6% of Sar Wealth Management Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Sar Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth 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. raised its stake 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 worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $221.55 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $221.55. The company has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $195.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’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 transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AAPL. Melius Research upped their target price on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.