Gutierrez Wealth Advisory LLC Acquires New Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Gutierrez Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,783 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $446,000. Apple accounts for about 0.4% of Gutierrez Wealth Advisory LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Family Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,178,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

AAPL traded down $0.94 on Friday, reaching $199.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 70,744,759 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,229,633. The stock has a market cap of $2.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The business's 50 day moving average is $203.10 and its 200 day moving average is $225.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on AAPL. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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.