Archer Investment Management LLC Grows Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Archer Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 52.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,602 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 1,918 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 0.9% of Archer Investment Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Archer Investment Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $1,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple 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 directly owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% 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 currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, June 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.95.

Apple Stock Up 1.3%

AAPL traded up $2.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $207.82. The company had a trading volume of 78,634,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,588,359. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.20. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $202.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $219.53.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during 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%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's board believes its shares are 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 issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.