Drake & Associates LLC Has $4.94 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Drake & Associates LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 53.7% in the first quarter, now owning 22,243 shares valued at approximately $4,941,000.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings reported $1.57 earnings per share, exceeding estimates, while revenue increased by 9.6% year-over-year to $94.04 billion.
• Apple recently announced a stock repurchase program authorizing the buyback of $100 billion in shares, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Drake & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 53.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,243 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 7,767 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.4% of Drake & Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Drake & Associates LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $4,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Burkett Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the first quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,045,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% in the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after acquiring an additional 438,471 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of AAPL traded up $2.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $227.76. 42,431,176 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 61,854,304. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.56, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $212.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $212.96.

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

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.98.

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.