MJP Associates Inc. ADV Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MJP Associates Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 77,320 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,269 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 4.0% of MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. MJP Associates Inc. ADV’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 116,483.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $74,002,245,000 after purchasing an additional 569,066,184 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $21,746,940,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,110,586,000 after purchasing an additional 25,926,552 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,932,352 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,103,464,000 after purchasing an additional 17,604,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 154.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 23,295,770 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,729,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,157,430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lowered their price target on Apple from $160.00 to $158.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $204.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 253,915 shares of company stock worth $44,202,868. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 4.3 %

AAPL stock opened at $175.04 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $159.78 and a 12-month high of $199.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.70 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.26, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.27. The business’s 50-day moving average is $176.88 and its 200 day moving average is $182.15.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.88 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

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.