Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Purchases 35,729 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 21.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,810 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 35,729 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 0.4% of Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $44,162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL traded up $0.85 on Thursday, reaching $215.00. The company had a trading volume of 26,462,465 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,728,691. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $215.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.11.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Company 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.