Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC Purchases 3,476 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 97.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,046 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,476 shares during the period. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,162,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. St. James Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 98.3% in the fourth quarter. St. James Investment Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 21.7% in the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $93,000. Finally, Sonnipe Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $104,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $187.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.54, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $186.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.87. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $124.17 and a twelve month high of $198.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.79 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 164.92%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 14th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 11th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 15,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.56, for a total value of $2,753,216.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Monday, June 12th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.86.

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.