MFG Wealth Management Inc. Takes $4.46 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MFG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 17,818 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $4,462,000. Apple makes up about 4.1% of MFG Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hidden Cove Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,476,000. Three Bridge Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Three Bridge Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,388 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,353,000 after buying an additional 689 shares in the last quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apple by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Channing Global Advisors LLC now owns 21,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,263,000 after acquiring an additional 6,219 shares during the period. Keener Financial Planning LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 4,928 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,234,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avion Wealth increased its holdings in Apple by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 16,392 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,104,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Apple from $252.00 to $220.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.85.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $87,377,116.59. The trade was a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Down 3.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $194.27 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $220.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Apple Company 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.