Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 387.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,525 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 35,390 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.5% of Lloyd Advisory Services LLC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC.’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,635,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its position 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 buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $210.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.46.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other 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 value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, 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, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Maxim Group raised their target price on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Itau BBA Securities raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

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.