Liberty One Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Liberty One Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,635 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 621 shares during the period. Liberty One Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 14,395.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at about $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $487,435,000. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after buying an additional 2,826,709 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018,010 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $183.38 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $199.62. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $181.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 153.25%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 14.93%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.