Root Financial Partners LLC Buys 25,978 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Root Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 34.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 101,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 25,978 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 2.4% of Root Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $229.65 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $207.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.21. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

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.