MCIA Inc Grows Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MCIA Inc grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,739 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.2% of MCIA Inc’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. MCIA Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 0.5% during the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Lowery Thomas LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the second quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,602,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $242.52.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,528,946.53. The trade was a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $232.62 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $241.02 and its 200-day moving average is $231.20. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

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.