MBA Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MBA Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,526 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.8% of MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wyrmwood Management LLC grew its stake in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its stake in Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP grew its stake in Apple by 200.0% during the third quarter. Cheyne Capital Management UK LLP now owns 275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HBC Financial Services PLLC grew its stake in Apple by 21.7% during the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $203.34.

Apple Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $167.04 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $175.15 and a 200 day moving average of $182.10. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $162.80 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $117.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.