Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 4.2%, owning a total of 35,353 shares valued at approximately $7.85 million, which accounts for 4.3% of its portfolio.
• Apple recently raised its quarterly dividend from $0.25 to $0.26, while also announcing a new share repurchase plan allowing for the buyback of up to $100 billion in shares.
• Analysts' consensus rating for Apple is a "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $234.94, reflecting varied opinions with some analysts issuing hold and sell ratings.

Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,353 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.3% of Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Montz Harcus Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $7,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $935,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,045,000 after acquiring an additional 5,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $113,062,000 after acquiring an additional 438,471 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $235.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.94.

Apple Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of AAPL traded down $1.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $212.52. The stock had a trading volume of 10,429,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,283,719. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $204.87 and a 200 day moving average of $214.22. The company has a market cap of $3.17 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released 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 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 company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.