Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. Buys Shares of 3,782 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 3,782 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $947,000. Apple comprises approximately 0.8% of Ball & Co Wealth Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $4.42 on Friday, hitting $201.00. 95,792,149 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,610,148. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $202.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Sunday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.

Insider Activity

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 now owns 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. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.