Barrett & Company Inc. Raises Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 30,530 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 1,858 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.9% of Barrett & Company Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Barrett & Company Inc.'s holdings in Apple were worth $6,782,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL traded up $0.17 on Monday, reaching $214.05. The company had a trading volume of 37,786,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 47,818,408. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $204.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $214.22. The company has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. UBS Group reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, June 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $234.94.

About Apple

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.