Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Lloyd Advisory Services LLC.

Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 28.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,616 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.3% of Lloyd Advisory Services LLC.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC.'s holdings in Apple were worth $2,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.95.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.5%

AAPL traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $211.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 48,631,689 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,497,198. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.89, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $203.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $218.08. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

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 paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding 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.

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.