JMG Financial Group Ltd. Grows Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

JMG Financial Group Ltd. raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,650 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 920 shares during the quarter. JMG Financial Group Ltd.’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the third quarter. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 16,802 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Flagstone Financial Management increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,638,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,181,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Columbus Macro LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $189.98 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $199.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $175.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $183.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.53%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.44.

Insider Transactions at Apple

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 transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 371,270 shares of company stock valued at $64,605,696. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.