WJ Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WJ Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,480 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.0% of WJ Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. WJ Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the third quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 25,643 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,390,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.7% during the third quarter. Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC now owns 71,148 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,181,000 after buying an additional 1,844 shares during the period. Financial Planning & Information Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 8.2% during the third quarter. Financial Planning & Information Services Inc. now owns 11,967 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,049,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 11.9% during the third quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 8,412,472 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,440,299,000 after purchasing an additional 896,700 shares during the period. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 8.9% during the third quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 234,621 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,169,000 after purchasing an additional 19,226 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $232.98 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $200.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.98. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $233.08. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Melius Research boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.43.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, 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 value of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, 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 value of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was 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 owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.