Valmark Advisers Inc. Has $56.36 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 207,293 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 4,841 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $56,355,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Overbrook Management Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 57.4% during the fourth quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 104,648 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $28,449,000 after buying an additional 38,174 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in Apple by 48.4% during the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 1,426,605 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $363,256,000 after buying an additional 465,393 shares during the last quarter. Tufton Capital Management increased its holdings in Apple by 4.3% during the third quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 100,130 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $25,496,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Montis Financial LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 15.8% during the third quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 77,919 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $19,841,000 after buying an additional 10,640 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated increased its holdings in Apple by 21.1% during the third quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 120,674 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $30,727,000 after buying an additional 21,054 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $293.25 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $193.46 and a one year high of $294.76. The company has a market cap of $4.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $261.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.65 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 12.58%.

Trending Headlines about Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush lifted Apple’s price target to $400 and said AI could drive a major growth wave for AAPL. Apple price target boosted by Wedbush on AI monetization expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Apple reached a preliminary chip-making deal with Intel boosted confidence in Apple’s manufacturing strategy and supply chain flexibility. Apple, Intel Have Reached Preliminary Chip-Making Agreement
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts see WWDC as a potential inflection point, with upcoming AI-related software features seen as a possible catalyst for Apple’s next leg higher. Apple’s biggest bull is now calling for a 37% stock jump
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple remains near its recent highs after strong quarterly results, keeping investor expectations elevated ahead of the next catalyst. Dow Jones Futures: Market At Highs With Iran, Trump-Xi Summit In Focus; Apple, Nvidia, Boeing In Buy Areas
• Negative Sentiment: Apple also faces ongoing legal and regulatory noise, including a Siri settlement and App Store antitrust disputes, which could weigh on sentiment if they escalate. Apple promised a smarter Siri, but a lawsuit says it didn’t deliver—and you can get up to $95 back

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total value of $421,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares in the company, valued at $34,934,433.50. This trade represents a 17.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 96,485 shares of company stock worth $24,594,845. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Scotiabank set a $330.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 target price (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group set a $296.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $305.74.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc NASDAQ: AAPL is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple's principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.

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