Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 14,158 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,545,000. Apple makes up about 2.1% of Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $199.01. 70,744,759 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. The company has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $203.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company 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 an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was 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 at this link. Also, 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 value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Raymond James dropped their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Maxim Group increased their target price on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

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.