Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Broadleaf Partners LLC

Broadleaf Partners LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 124,581 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 372 shares during the period. Apple comprises 7.2% of Broadleaf Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest position. Broadleaf Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $17,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in Apple by 20.0% in the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $456,728,000 after purchasing an additional 435,891 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. raised its holdings in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,016,000 after acquiring an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Markel Corp raised its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after acquiring an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Camden Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after acquiring an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,629,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 57.60% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Apple from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 18th. KeyCorp reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Apple from $133.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and twenty-five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.18.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $151.03 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $179.61. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $146.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $2.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 1.30.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.05). Apple had a return on equity of 163.45% and a net margin of 24.56%. The business had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $121.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.62%.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.