Williams Financial LLC Buys 2,127 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Williams Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 234.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,035 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,127 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 0.5% of Williams Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Williams Financial LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $9.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $229.35. 113,661,399 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,719,256. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16. The company's 50-day moving average price is $206.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.14.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding 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 usually a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.60.

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.