Argent Advisors Inc. Acquires 5,145 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Argent Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 18.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,600 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 5,145 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.4% of Argent Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Argent Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $7,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 13.3% in 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 currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.60.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Apple stock traded down $1.19 during trading on Friday, hitting $231.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 56,003,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 63,552,584. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $209.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.14.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated 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 reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, 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 this link. 0.06% of the stock is 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.