Mason & Associates Inc Grows Stock Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Mason & Associates Inc increased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 37,877 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,403 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 1.8% of Mason & Associates Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Mason & Associates Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apple during the second quarter worth about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. Nexus Investment Management ULC grew its holdings in Apple by 333.3% during the second quarter. Nexus Investment Management ULC now owns 260 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Finally, Elite Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth about $58,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 3,752 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $271.23, for a total transaction of $1,017,654.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,095,030.54. This represents a 19.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock worth $58,604,588 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $277.55 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $280.38. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $261.82 and a 200-day moving average of $230.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 trillion, a PE ratio of 42.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.64 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is 13.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays boosted their price target on Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $278.22.

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.