Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,366 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 408 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 1.7% of Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Von Berge Wealth Management Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth 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. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its position in Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Melius Research boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities upgraded Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $210.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.31. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company 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 firm posted $1.52 EPS. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 shares were 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 directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 247,087 shares of company stock valued at $44,016,111. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.