Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC Invests $2.64 Million in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 10,557 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,644,000. Apple accounts for 2.8% of Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $196.58 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $202.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $222.00. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Equities analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 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.

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