Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. Invests $6.75 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 39,368 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $6,751,000. Apple comprises 3.5% of Bright Futures Wealth Management LLC.’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at about $3,026,492,000. Finally, Global Assets Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 23,076.4% during the first quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,584,512,000 after purchasing an additional 9,200,345 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.0 %

AAPL opened at $226.84 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $220.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.44. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 145.35% and a net margin of 26.44%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.26 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued 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 yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush boosted their price target on Apple from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Apple from $210.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Apple from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the 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 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 worth $38,092,387 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Company 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.