Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS

Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 247.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 240,181 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 171,015 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 17.4% of Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS's holdings in Apple were worth $53,351,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA increased its position in Apple by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Lederer & Associates Investment Counsel CA now owns 55,967 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $12,432,000 after purchasing an additional 1,360 shares during the period. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. increased its position in Apple by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. Waller Financial Planning Group Inc. now owns 24,149 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,364,000 after purchasing an additional 6,602 shares during the period. Marotta Asset Management increased its position in Apple by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Marotta Asset Management now owns 8,504 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,982,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Kera Capital Partners Inc. increased its position in Apple by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 11,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,586,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Finally, Marcum Wealth LLC increased its position in Apple by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 95,207 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $21,148,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities downgraded shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of AAPL opened at $201.50 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $202.33 and a 200 day moving average of $221.12. 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 $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AAPL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.