Retirement Planning Group LLC Purchases 5,596 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Retirement Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,596 shares during the period. Apple comprises 1.2% of Retirement Planning Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Retirement Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management grew its position in Apple by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. High Pines Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $210.62 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $220.20. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $185.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for 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%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Erste Group Bank raised Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 4th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. One investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $215.71.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 247,087 shares of company stock worth $44,016,111. 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.