Life Planning Partners Inc Invests $47,000 in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 186,453 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. O Connor Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,848,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $945,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,235,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA raised its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $4,178,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. China Renaissance assumed coverage on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $241.00 target price for the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on Apple from $197.00 to $173.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $235.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Sunday, June 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.02.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business's 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 sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock worth $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.6%

AAPL opened at $203.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.05 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $201.17 and a 200-day moving average of $224.15.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.

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