Liberty Capital Management Inc. Sells 692 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Liberty Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,163 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 692 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 4.5% of Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Drystone LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group set a $210.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.27.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of AAPL opened at $209.11 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $203.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.45. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Company 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.