Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC Invests $2.92 Million in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 14,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,921,000. Apple comprises about 2.2% of Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,415,932,804 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $290,506,933,000 after acquiring an additional 15,141,995 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 601,249,995 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $123,358,461,000 after buying an additional 5,224,229 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 1.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 354,749,794 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $72,506,336,000 after buying an additional 4,942,638 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 573,627.2% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $39,065,374,000 after acquiring an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,942,255,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $330.00 price objective (up from $315.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Wedbush set a $350.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 8th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $300.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.82.

Apple Trading Up 0.2%

Apple stock opened at $274.61 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $268.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.34. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $288.62. The company has a quick ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $4.06 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a net margin of 26.92% and a return on equity of 164.05%. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588. 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.