Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Position Boosted by Baer Investment Advisory LLC

Key Points

• Baer Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 11.4%, now holding 13,254 shares valued at approximately $2.94 million.
• Apple reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.57 for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations of $1.43, while its revenue also exceeded projections at $94.04 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26, which translates to an annual yield of 0.4% and reflects a payout ratio of 15.78%.

Baer Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 11.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,254 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 1,357 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 5.3% of Baer Investment Advisory LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. Baer Investment Advisory LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $2,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Raymond James Financial restated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.37.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.2%

Apple stock traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $232.14. The stock had a trading volume of 39,382,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,684,536. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a fifty day moving average of $215.79 and a 200 day moving average of $212.71.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

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.