Topsail Wealth Management LLC Buys 2,400 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Topsail Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 10.8% in the first quarter, holding 24,682 shares valued at approximately $5.48 million.
• Analysts remain optimistic about Apple, with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup issuing "buy" ratings and price targets of $266.00 and $245.00 respectively, while the stock has an average price target of $237.37.
• Apple recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share and has authorized a $100 billion share buyback program, indicating confidence in its stock value.

Topsail Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,400 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.1% of Topsail Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Topsail Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $5,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Apple by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "buy" rating and set a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.37.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $232.14. The stock had a trading volume of 39,382,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,684,536. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $215.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $212.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.23, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.