Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 303,545 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 21.1% of MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $70,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Apple by 127.4% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after purchasing an additional 42,282 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 761,774 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $130,629,000 after buying an additional 17,519 shares during the last quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC increased its position in Apple by 171.4% during the 1st quarter. Lavaca Capital LLC now owns 42,930 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,362,000 after buying an additional 27,111 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP raised its stake in Apple by 97.3% in the first quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 157,833 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,065,000 after buying an additional 77,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in Apple by 1.2% in the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 822,174 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $140,986,000 after buying an additional 10,031 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $253.48 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $233.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $224.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $253.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by 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.