Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Sound Income Strategies LLC

Sound Income Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,383 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,273 shares during the quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. 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 during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,394,751,000 after buying an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 70,212,651 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Apple by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after acquiring an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The shares were 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 $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 2.9 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $216.75 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $220.20. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $192.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target 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. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Itau BBA Securities raised 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 note on Friday, May 3rd. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

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.