Simplicity Wealth LLC Has $20.65 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 120.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,962 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 50,780 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.6% of Simplicity Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Simplicity Wealth LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $20,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $170.62 to $188.32 in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.27.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $1.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $211.16. The company had a trading volume of 39,713,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,392,240. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $203.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $217.73. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized 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 purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

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

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.