Maseco LLP Buys Shares of 12,748 Apple Inc. $AAPL

Maseco LLP purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,748 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,614,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its holdings in Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,742,000 after buying an additional 2,695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,587,000 after buying an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of AAPL opened at $258.02 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.09. 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 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $233.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $214.69.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. HSBC set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $205.82 to $205.16 in a research report on Friday. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $247.49.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.