Fortress Financial Group LLC Acquires Shares of 8,865 Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Fortress Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 8,865 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,220,000. Apple comprises about 2.2% of Fortress Financial Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Raymond James cut their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $198.53. The stock had a trading volume of 36,406,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,072,491. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $208.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.51, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.