MA Private Wealth Buys 1,501 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MA Private Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. 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 about 0.6% of MA Private Wealth’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. MA Private Wealth’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,712,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after purchasing an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $560,388,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at about $487,435,000. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Apple by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 49,759,061 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,519,244,000 after purchasing an additional 2,826,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Apple by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 6.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $183.38 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $172.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $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 firm has a market cap of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $199.62.

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

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. 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 is presently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Maxim Group started coverage on Apple in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective on the stock. Redburn Partners cut shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.72.

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.