Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by L.K. Benson & Company P.C.

L.K. Benson & Company P.C. raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 14.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the quarter. L.K. Benson & Company P.C.’s holdings in Apple were worth $826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus 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 Apple stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $233.33 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $208.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $213.35. 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 company has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.16.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.