Midwest Financial Group LLC Has $6.55 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Midwest Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,192 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,561 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 4.4% of Midwest Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Midwest Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. MCIA Inc raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. MCIA Inc now owns 22,970 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $3,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the first quarter worth approximately $38,984,000. First Community Trust NA grew its position in Apple by 0.5% in the first quarter. First Community Trust NA now owns 58,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,983,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Ferguson Shapiro LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the first quarter. Ferguson Shapiro LLC now owns 20,392 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,497,000 after buying an additional 135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 186,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $31,953,000 after acquiring an additional 6,454 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Maxim Group initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $210.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $208.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $188.57 and its 200-day moving average is $184.85. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.