Safeguard Financial LLC Has $1.92 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Safeguard Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 135.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,639 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,689 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.2% of Safeguard Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Safeguard Financial LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $221,753,959,000 after purchasing an additional 8,734,393 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 116,483.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $74,002,245,000 after purchasing an additional 569,066,184 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 282,749,817 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,671,884,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991,299 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 226,281,368 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,400,739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,827 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in Apple by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,110,586,000 after acquiring an additional 25,926,552 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.89% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $195.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $167.83. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $198.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.28.

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Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.84 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.30%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to buyback $90.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. They set a “buy” rating and a $240.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, May 22nd. Credit Suisse Group upped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Apple from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $194.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,881,483.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.