Apple Inc. $AAPL is Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC’s 5th Largest Position

Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,359 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 632 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 5.3% of Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Liberty Square Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baker Boyer National Bank grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 18,011 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,695,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Red Tortoise LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. Red Tortoise LLC now owns 5,717 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Apple by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. SigFig Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,830 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Shariaportfolio Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 3,999 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $820,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $267.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $257.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $277.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.92%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. The trade was a 19.90% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus set a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $226.00 to $315.00 in a report on Monday, October 20th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

Apple 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.