Capital Planning LLC Purchases 1,966 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Capital Planning LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,866 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,966 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.3% of Capital Planning LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Capital Planning LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,092,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Phoenix Wealth Advisors boosted its position in Apple by 0.9% during the third quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 31,866 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,456,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Greytown Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Greytown Advisors Inc. now owns 12,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,062,000 after buying an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 344,037 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $58,903,000 after buying an additional 39,385 shares during the last quarter. Trivest Advisors Ltd bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,424,000. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 673,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $115,284,000 after acquiring an additional 24,634 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $210.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $192.13 and a 200 day moving average of $185.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple Company 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.