Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC Buys New Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,750 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,690,000. Apple makes up 1.2% of Meriwether Wealth & Planning LLC's holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple 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 now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $4.77 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $202.09. 59,113,086 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,963,045. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $205.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $226.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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 $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

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.