Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC Makes New $3.45 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,546 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,453,000. Apple comprises about 5.2% of Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Family Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,910 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,235,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 16,682 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC now owns 15,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,992,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of AAPL opened at $231.59 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $209.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.33.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank lowered shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total value of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.