Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stock Position Lifted by Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC

Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 32.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 11,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,903 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 1.0% of Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,267,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Headinvest LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its position in Apple by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after acquiring an additional 10,425 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its holdings in Apple by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $829,240,000 after acquiring an additional 279,311 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,158,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 673,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $115,284,000 after purchasing an additional 24,634 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock worth $63,653,887 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AAPL. Redburn Partners lowered shares of Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Apple from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $204.11.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $182.40 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $172.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $181.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The firm has a market cap of $2.82 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

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.