Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Archford Capital Strategies LLC's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Archford Capital Strategies LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 22.4% in the first quarter, holding 89,170 shares valued at approximately $19.81 million.
• Apple reported earnings per share of $1.57 for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' estimates, with a revenue of $94.04 billion, marking a 9.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a $100 billion share buyback program, indicating that its board believes the stock is currently undervalued.

Archford Capital Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 22.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 89,170 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 16,302 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.9% of Archford Capital Strategies LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Archford Capital Strategies LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $19,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company'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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $9.32 on Friday, reaching $229.35. 113,661,399 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,719,256. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $206.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.21. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.