Brookstone Capital Management Has $93 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 542,338 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 27,000 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.7% of Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $93,000,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 69.0% in 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 in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 118.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its stake 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 worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $196.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. One equities research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $220.27 on Wednesday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $193.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $185.44. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.38. The company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. This is an increase 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%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.