Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Liberty Capital Management Inc.

Liberty Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 91,163 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 692 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 4.5% of Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Liberty Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its holdings in Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,647 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $270.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.27.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $209.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.20. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $203.79 and its 200-day moving average is $216.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in 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 typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.20%.

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.