Mason & Associates Inc Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Mason & Associates Inc boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 34,033 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.0% of Mason & Associates Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Mason & Associates Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $8,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Apple by 20,372.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after buying an additional 55,935,105 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,121,656,000 after buying an additional 5,893,741 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $241.76 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $239.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $233.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its 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%. On average, analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price objective on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Loop Capital cut Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.88.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.