Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC Purchases 340 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 0.7% of Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,074,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after acquiring an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,647 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.60.

Apple Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $231.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $209.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.14, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.