Balance Wealth LLC Takes Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Balance Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,984 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,329,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $202.92 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $205.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.24. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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