Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Lifted by Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 785.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,513,944 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,230,086 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 21.4% of Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its largest position. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $560,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% during 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 buying an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Apple stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $214.05. 37,786,671 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 47,818,408. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a fifty day moving average of $204.87 and a 200-day moving average of $214.22. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. China Renaissance began coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays set a $173.00 price objective on Apple and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Company 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.