Astra Wealth Partners LLC Takes $1.77 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Astra Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 7,067 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,770,000. Apple comprises approximately 1.6% of Astra Wealth Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. MCIA Inc lifted its position in Apple by 3.4% during the third quarter. MCIA Inc now owns 23,739 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,323,000 after buying an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. Tenere Capital LLC lifted its position in Apple by 3.3% during the third quarter. Tenere Capital LLC now owns 111,031 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,870,000 after buying an additional 3,499 shares in the last quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.0% during the third quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 57,908 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,493,000 after buying an additional 591 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $750,000. Finally, Montchanin Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Montchanin Asset Management LLC now owns 84,407 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $19,667,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Maxim Group upped their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded down $2.75 on Friday, hitting $196.45. The company had a trading volume of 51,345,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,742,937. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company's fifty day moving average price is $201.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

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.