Benchmark Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 988 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 132.8% during the fourth quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,782,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $227.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $220.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $194.75.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush upped their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.63.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 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. Insiders have sold 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.