Brown Financial Advisory Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Brown Financial Advisory has significantly increased its position in Apple Inc., raising its stake by 109.7% to hold a total of 3,770 shares worth approximately $837,000.
• Apple's stock had a trading price of $229.31 recently, with a market capital of $3.40 trillion and a P/E ratio of 34.80.
• The company recently announced a $100 billion stock repurchase program, indicating that its board believes the shares are undervalued.

Brown Financial Advisory increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 109.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,770 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,972 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 0.5% of Brown Financial Advisory's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Brown Financial Advisory's holdings in Apple were worth $837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Apple in the first quarter valued at $58,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. Citigroup raised their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded up $2.50 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $232.99. 20,569,050 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,837,367. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.16. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $214.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.05. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.