Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Lifted by Geneos Wealth Management Inc.

Key Points

• Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 74.9%, owning 281,729 shares valued at approximately $62.6 million, making it the third largest holding in their portfolio.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their price targets for Apple, with Monness Crespi & Hardt setting a new target of $270 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Apple declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.4%, with a dividend payout ratio of 15.78%.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 74.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 281,729 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 120,663 shares during the period. Apple makes up 1.6% of Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $62,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Salus Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Disciplined Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,794,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Sharpepoint LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.5% during the first quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,184,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.0%

Apple stock traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $239.69. The company had a trading volume of 54,829,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,688,568. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $219.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $212.64. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.05.

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.