Wealth Management Strategies Inc. Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wealth Management Strategies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 19,297 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $4,832,000. Apple comprises about 3.7% of Wealth Management Strategies Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Sunday, June 1st. Bank of America restated a "buy" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.

Apple Trading Up 2.2%

NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $4.42 on Friday, hitting $201.00. 95,792,149 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 54,505,078. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $202.29 and a 200-day moving average of $222.00. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. 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.