Lutz Financial Services LLC Acquires 345 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Lutz Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,386 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 345 shares during the period. Lutz Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,488,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC increased its stake in Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, EMC Capital Management increased its stake in Apple by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 26th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.64.

Apple Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $242.21 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.84, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $239.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.57. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.