Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC Buys 2,043 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 75,991 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 2,043 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.4% of Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $16,880,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,836,000 after buying an additional 2,647 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL traded up $0.80 on Wednesday, reaching $230.11. The company had a trading volume of 19,336,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,990,016. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a fifty day moving average of $213.77 and a 200-day moving average of $212.93.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $237.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.