Pure Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 4,943 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Key Points

• Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 2.9%, acquiring an additional 4,943 shares, bringing their total to 177,153 shares valued at approximately $39.35 million.
• Bank of America and Citigroup both raised their target prices for Apple shares, now set at $250 and $245 respectively, maintaining "buy" ratings.
• Apple announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26, with a yield of 0.5%, and a significant share repurchase plan authorizing up to $100 billion in stock buybacks, indicating confidence in the stock's value.

Pure Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 177,153 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 4,943 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.8% of Pure Financial Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Pure Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $39,351,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock traded up $9.32 on Friday, reaching $229.35. The stock had a trading volume of 113,661,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,719,256. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business's 50 day moving average is $206.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.21.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.78%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.