Unique Wealth LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Unique Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,027 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 0.9% of Unique Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Unique Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after buying an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $213.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.16, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $189.37 and a 200-day moving average of $184.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 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 analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush boosted their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 24th. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.29.

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.