Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Boosted by Valeo Financial Advisors LLC

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 768,417 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 30,190 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.1% of Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $170,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.01.

Apple Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $229.31 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $213.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $212.93. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

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