Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Reduced by Leibman Financial Services Inc.

Leibman Financial Services Inc. lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 891 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.7% of Leibman Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Leibman Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,211,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Verus Financial Partners Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory increased its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the second quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Core Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC boosted its position in Apple by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $949,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $232.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a market cap of $3.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.30, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $228.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $218.64.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 35.49 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Citigroup raised their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

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.