Brendel Financial Advisors LLC Takes $2.42 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Brendel Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 12,561 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,418,000. Apple accounts for about 1.6% of Brendel Financial Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after acquiring an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 38,579,495 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,605,195,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 17,519,918 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,020,609,000 after acquiring an additional 287,329 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 371,270 shares of company stock worth $64,605,696. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Loop Capital reduced their price objective on Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Apple from $158.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.71.

Apple Trading Down 0.8 %

Apple stock opened at $190.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $175.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $182.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.69, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple Company 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.