Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC Invests $15.09 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 60,264 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $15,091,000. Apple accounts for approximately 9.4% of Bradley & Co. Private Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

AAPL traded up $0.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $198.26. 14,565,726 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,959,857. The firm's fifty day moving average is $208.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $227.64. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.47, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank downgraded Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 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.