Magnolia Private Wealth LLC Makes New $3.64 Million Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Magnolia Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 14,527 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $3,638,000. Apple accounts for approximately 2.1% of Magnolia Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of AAPL. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.5% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,121,107 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $258,707,000 after buying an additional 106,701 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 6.1% in the third quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 30,075 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,007,000 after acquiring an additional 1,735 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 127,059 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,605,000 after purchasing an additional 7,308 shares in the last quarter. Nvwm LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nvwm LLC now owns 70,475 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,421,000 after purchasing an additional 6,852 shares during the period. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 102,798 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,952,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Apple from $236.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. China Renaissance began coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $235.80.

Apple Trading Up 0.0 %

AAPL opened at $198.92 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $210.55 and its 200-day moving average is $228.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.53 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

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.