SignalPoint Asset Management LLC Purchases 548 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

SignalPoint Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 183,197 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 548 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 8.6% of SignalPoint Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its holdings in Apple by 657.1% during the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $209.07 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $220.20. The company has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.25. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $189.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $184.94.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued 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 dividend yield of 0.48%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price target 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 price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $212.46.

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.