ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC Has $5.68 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 22,686 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,158 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.2% of ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $5,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 2.2%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $4.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $201.00. The stock had a trading volume of 95,792,149 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,610,148. The business's 50 day moving average is $202.35 and its 200 day moving average is $221.41. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Raymond James Financial lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. 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 report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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 note on Friday, May 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.86.

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.