Michels Family Financial LLC Buys New Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Michels Family Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,832 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,210,000. Apple comprises approximately 1.1% of Michels Family Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 2.2%

AAPL stock traded up $4.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $201.00. 95,792,149 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 54,381,393. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50 day moving average price is $202.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $221.71. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program 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 programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. 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%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. 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 Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

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.