Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 7,201 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC has made a new investment in Apple Inc., purchasing 7,201 shares for approximately $1.60 million, which represents about 1.5% of their overall portfolio.
• Apple recently declared a quarterly dividend increase to $0.26 per share and announced a $100 billion stock buyback program, indicating confidence in its valuation.
• The stock has a current consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with analysts setting a target price of $234.94, following various upgrades and downgrades from research firms.

Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 7,201 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,600,000. Apple accounts for approximately 1.5% of Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.94.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Thursday, reaching $208.82. 13,029,085 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,191,012. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $205.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.16. The company has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.53, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.