Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC Grows Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 69.7% in Q2, owning a total of 15,909 shares valued at approximately $3.26 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds control 67.73% of Apple's stock, with several firms boosting their holdings during the fourth quarter.
• Apple recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, equating to an annualized yield of 0.4%.

Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 69.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,909 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 6,534 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 1.3% of Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Discipline Wealth Solutions LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $3,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter valued at about $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 3.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in 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. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 3.2%

Apple stock traded up $7.62 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $245.50. 163,435,991 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,568,860. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $224.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.26. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 9th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $242.74.

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.