Tower Wealth Partners Inc. Acquires 1,469 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 15.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,721 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,469 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.2% of Tower Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Tower Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,838,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 657.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $85,000. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 100.6% during the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 483 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 83,965 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, 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 transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 shares were 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 $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Melius Research upped their price target on Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, DZ Bank reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $218.43.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $230.54 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $203.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.44. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $233.08.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly 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. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

About Apple

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.