Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Vest Financial LLC

Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 44.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 271,749 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 83,423 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 0.9% of Vest Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $60,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.4%

Apple stock opened at $213.36 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 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.14. The stock has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board 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.