Liberty Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 116,709 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,740 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 4.9% of Liberty Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Liberty Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $29,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Axim Planning & Wealth lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Axim Planning & Wealth now owns 1,087 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $253,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Firetrail Investments PTY Ltd. purchased a new stake in Apple in the third quarter worth $31,867,000. Bell Bank raised its holdings in Apple by 15.7% in the third quarter. Bell Bank now owns 73,994 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $17,241,000 after purchasing an additional 10,065 shares in the last quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 33.6% during the third quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 80,871 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $18,843,000 after buying an additional 20,356 shares during the period. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 355,760 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $82,808,000 after buying an additional 6,237 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.
Read Our Latest Analysis on AAPL
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.
Apple Stock Performance
Shares of AAPL stock opened at $202.09 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $205.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $226.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.
Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.
About Apple
(
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.
Further Reading
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