Brookstone Capital Management Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 542,338 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,000 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 1.7% of Brookstone Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $93,000,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 249,461 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,710,000 after purchasing an additional 10,955 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its stake in shares of Apple by 2.1% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,020,415 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $174,705,000 after purchasing an additional 21,458 shares during the period. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 5.2% during the third quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 535,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $91,603,000 after purchasing an additional 26,218 shares during the period. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 16.6% during the third quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. Finally, AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 39,969 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,843,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Maxim Group raised their price objective on Apple from $178.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $216.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Apple Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $220.27 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.26, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $220.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $193.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $185.44. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

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.