Apple Inc. $AAPL is Apollon Wealth Management LLC's Largest Position

Key Points

• Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 7.4%, making it the firm's largest position, valued at approximately $192 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Conquis Financial LLC and LSV Asset Management, have also recently purchased shares of Apple, indicating strong interest from institutional investors, who now own 67.73% of the stock.
• Apple reported earnings of $1.57 EPS in its last quarterly results, surpassing analysts' expectations and achieving a revenue of $94.04 billion.

Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 864,546 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 59,849 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.2% of Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its biggest holding. Apollon Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $192,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $232.14. The company had a trading volume of 39,382,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,684,536. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $215.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $212.71. The stock has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.37.

Apple 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.