Kowal Investment Group LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Kowal Investment Group LLC grew its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 46,186 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,593 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.1% of Kowal Investment Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth $30,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 16,252.3% during the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,992,420 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 6,949,659 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its stake in Apple by 21.7% during the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. DZ Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Redburn Partners lowered shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, 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 note on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $167.04 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $162.80 and a twelve month high of $199.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $175.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.