Avondale Wealth Management Increases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Avondale Wealth Management increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 7.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,337 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 972 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.0% of Avondale Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Avondale Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.3%

AAPL stock opened at $201.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $202.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $220.53. The stock has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $234.39.

About Apple

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.