Root Financial Partners LLC Makes New $2.33 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,119 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,328,000. Apple accounts for approximately 1.7% of Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 82,890,182 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,668,591,000 after purchasing an additional 844,896 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of Apple by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 6,723 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Apple by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,561 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $752,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 94,854 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $15,641,000 after buying an additional 3,848 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.0% during the first quarter. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. now owns 309,721 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $51,073,000 after buying an additional 9,061 shares in the last quarter. 58.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $177.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market cap of $2.78 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $124.17 and a 52 week high of $198.23. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The iPhone maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.19 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $81.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $81.79 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.68% and a return on equity of 164.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 17th. Investors of record on Monday, August 14th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,363,619.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Piper Jaffray Companies lifted their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.86.

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.