Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Axiom Advisory LLC

Axiom Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,793 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.0% of Axiom Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Axiom Advisory LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Phoenix Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the third quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 31,866 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,456,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Greytown Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Greytown Advisors Inc. now owns 12,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 344,037 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $58,903,000 after purchasing an additional 39,385 shares during the period. Trivest Advisors Ltd purchased a new stake in Apple during the third quarter worth $3,424,000. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 673,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,284,000 after buying an additional 24,634 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Maxim Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective 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 issued a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $210.62 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $192.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $185.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share 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 net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction 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 have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.