Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Joule Financial LLC

Joule Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 75.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,850 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,507 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 0.5% of Joule Financial LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Joule Financial LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $1,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Paragon Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Paragon Financial Partners Inc. now owns 25,419 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,646,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,611 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,245,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Planning LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Fiduciary Planning LLC now owns 15,106 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,356,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Towneley Capital Management Inc DE increased its holdings in Apple by 890.5% in the 1st quarter. Towneley Capital Management Inc DE now owns 11,420 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,537,000 after acquiring an additional 10,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. AAFMAA Wealth Management & Trust LLC now owns 17,140 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,807,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock remained flat at $210.01 during trading on Wednesday. 4,254,040 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,502,129. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $203.32 and a 200 day moving average of $218.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved 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 buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.95.

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.