Better Money Decisions LLC Boosts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Better Money Decisions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 20.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,999 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 3,458 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.0% of Better Money Decisions LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Better Money Decisions LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $4,442,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.95.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

Apple stock traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $213.36. 34,955,836 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 53,594,994. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. The business's 50-day moving average price is $203.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Company 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.