Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC Acquires 3,575 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,484 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 3,575 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.9% of Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $10,639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,690,000. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,912,000. Tassel Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $344,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 3,853,850 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $965,081,000 after purchasing an additional 459,563 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lowery Thomas LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,882 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,974,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.9%

AAPL stock traded down $1.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $206.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 42,411,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,950,271. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $205.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.57.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. 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 of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, May 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

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.