OakTrust Wealth Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,933 Apple Inc. $AAPL

OakTrust Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,933 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $525,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $69,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $76,000. Finally, Basso Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $88,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,675,650. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Ben Borders sold 116 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $295.14, for a total transaction of $34,236.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 38,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,425,754.82. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 97,875 shares of company stock valued at $24,998,541 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $298.01 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $289.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $196.85 and a 52-week high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 146.69% and a net margin of 27.15%.The business had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $109.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 16.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.27 per share. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 17th. KeyCorp reiterated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Maxim Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $350.00 price target (up from $310.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $335.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $314.59.

Apple News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned price increases could protect margins as memory and storage costs rise, and Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating with a $380 target, citing Apple’s pricing power and supply-chain strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of upcoming AI-focused devices and a second-generation iPhone Air support confidence in Apple’s product pipeline and longer-term growth story. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s planned price hikes may help earnings, but they could also pressure demand if consumers balk at higher handset prices. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple opening Brazil’s App Store to alternative marketplaces reduces regulatory friction there, but it also underscores ongoing global platform scrutiny. Article Title

Apple Profile

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.