MA Private Wealth Increases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MA Private Wealth grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,086 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 0.6% of MA Private Wealth’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. MA Private Wealth’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 69.0% in the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC raised its position in Apple by 118.0% in the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 70.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 645 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $132,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Itau BBA Securities raised shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. UBS Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $190.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, March 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.72.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Up 6.0 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $199.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $172.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $181.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.52 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 14.95%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.