Signature Wealth Management Group Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Signature Wealth Management Group grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,743 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total value of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Redburn Partners lowered Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $166.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.05.

Apple Trading Down 0.3 %

AAPL stock traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $169.30. The stock had a trading volume of 44,717,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,363,952. The firm has a market cap of $2.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $173.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $181.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 14.95%.

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.