Merit Financial Group LLC Has $148.80 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 669,867 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 57,835 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 2.2% of Merit Financial Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $148,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays set a $173.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities cut shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.95.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL traded up $4.62 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $212.44. The stock had a trading volume of 67,874,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,627,933. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.09, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The company's 50-day moving average price is $203.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.45.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board 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 repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

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.