Midway Capital Research & Management Invests $6.47 Million in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Midway Capital Research & Management purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 23,796 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $6,469,000. Apple comprises about 6.3% of Midway Capital Research & Management’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,426,283,914 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $387,749,545,000 after purchasing an additional 26,856,752 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 604,056,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $164,218,801,000 after purchasing an additional 6,555,392 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 358,032,517 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $97,031,587,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,103 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Apple by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 230,483,035 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,659,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,379,651 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $52,266,468,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $298.01 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $289.73 and a 200-day moving average of $272.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $196.85 and a 12 month high of $317.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. The business had revenue of $111.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $109.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.65 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.27 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Key Headlines Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned price increases could protect margins as memory and storage costs rise, and Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating with a $380 target, citing Apple’s pricing power and supply-chain strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of upcoming AI-focused devices and a second-generation iPhone Air support confidence in Apple’s product pipeline and longer-term growth story. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s planned price hikes may help earnings, but they could also pressure demand if consumers balk at higher handset prices. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple opening Brazil’s App Store to alternative marketplaces reduces regulatory friction there, but it also underscores ongoing global platform scrutiny. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $325.00 target price on Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price target (up from $300.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price objective on Apple in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $314.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 1,534 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.00, for a total transaction of $421,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,366 shares in the company, valued at $3,675,650. The trade was a 10.30% 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 64,949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total value of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple’s principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.