Spire Wealth Management Has $53.47 Million Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 17th, 2023

Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 3.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 411,492 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,565 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.0% of Spire Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Apple were worth $53,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cassia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 979 shares in the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,148,000. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. raised its position in shares of Apple by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co. now owns 2,340,129 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $304,053,000 after buying an additional 115,929 shares in the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $563,000. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 105,200 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,072,000 after buying an additional 4,402 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, March 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $199.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 16th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total transaction of $29,991,744.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total transaction of $7,215,515.02. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,569,202.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $172.07 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.17 and a 1 year high of $176.15. The stock has a market cap of $2.71 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $163.43 and a 200 day moving average of $150.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $94.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $92.84 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.30%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 4th that permits the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.