Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 56,715 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $13,385,000. Apple accounts for approximately 6.1% of Ameriflex Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its biggest holding.
A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. United Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Apple by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 68,985 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $17,275,000 after purchasing an additional 1,372 shares during the period. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $5,141,000. Challenger Wealth Management acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $5,634,000. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,625 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,918,000 after acquiring an additional 1,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,451,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on AAPL
Insider Buying and Selling at Apple
In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Apple Stock Performance
Shares of Apple stock opened at $196.58 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $202.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $222.00. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 167.24%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
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 given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.
Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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