Defined Financial Planning LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Defined Financial Planning LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 18.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,150 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,063 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.0% of Defined Financial Planning LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Defined Financial Planning LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,935,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first 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 period. 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 acquiring 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% during 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 acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $210.02. The company had a trading volume of 47,934,707 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,214,255. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.20. The business's fifty day moving average is $204.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $216.41.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. Apple'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 initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.91.

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.