Delta Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Delta Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple Inc. by 3.4% in Q1, making Apple its largest holding, valued at approximately $101.5 million.
• Analysts have issued new price targets for Apple, with JPMorgan increasing it to $255 and Monness Crespi elevating it to $270, while the average target stands at $239.05.
• Apple declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, reflecting an annualized payout ratio of 15.78% and a yield of 0.4% for shareholders.

Delta Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 459,850 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 14,917 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 23.3% of Delta Financial Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Delta Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $101,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded shares of Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $190.67 to $205.82 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $238.99.

Apple Trading Down 0.8%

Apple stock traded down $1.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $237.83. The stock had a trading volume of 26,928,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,577,613. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $219.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

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.