Apple Inc. $AAPL Position Boosted by Mokosak Advisory Group LLC

Mokosak Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,657 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 578 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 0.4% of Mokosak Advisory Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Mokosak Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 28.3% during the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $935,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Apple by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,107,000 after purchasing an additional 4,543 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Andina Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 209.2% during the 1st quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Evercore ISI set a $290.00 price target on Apple and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wedbush set a $310.00 price objective on Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $290.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.29.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $252.29 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $241.13 and a 200-day moving average of $216.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced 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 return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 earnings per share. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Apple 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.