Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC invested approximately $3.45 million in Apple Inc., acquiring 15,546 shares, making it 5.2% of their total holdings and the company's 5th largest position.
• Apple recently reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.57, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.43, with a revenue of $94.04 billion, up 9.6% year-over-year.
• The company announced a $0.26 quarterly dividend, which reflects an annualized yield of 0.4%, signaling a 15.78% payout ratio, indicative of its stable cash flow.

Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,546 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $3,453,000. Apple makes up 5.2% of Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $230.76. The stock had a trading volume of 8,640,402 shares, compared to its average volume of 57,554,328. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.07, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock's fifty day moving average is $210.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $212.94.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.