Babb Wealth Advisors LLC Invests $437,000 in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Babb Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,745 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $437,000. Apple makes up approximately 0.4% of Babb Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $0.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $211.26. The company had a trading volume of 53,614,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,997,127. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $206.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.66. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

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.