National Wealth Management Group LLC Increases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

National Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 44.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,759 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 3,335 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.8% of National Wealth Management Group LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. National Wealth Management Group LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Apple by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $945,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Family Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four equities 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $1.22 on Tuesday, hitting $202.67. 52,015,754 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,214,415. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $200.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $223.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 over the last quarter. 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.