Life Planning Partners Inc Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 186,453 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 3.8% during the third quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,269,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares during the period. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its position in Apple by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $59,122,000 after acquiring an additional 28,799 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 96,589 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $22,505,000 after acquiring an additional 3,935 shares during the period. Finally, Narwhal Capital Management raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Narwhal Capital Management now owns 276,791 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $64,492,000 after acquiring an additional 6,711 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp raised shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.85.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $3.82 during trading on Monday, reaching $193.16. 46,653,946 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,785,313. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.77 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $218.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $229.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.90 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. As a group, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's payout ratio is 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock worth $40,818,720 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.