Mason & Associates LLC Boosts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Mason & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,386 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 402 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 0.6% of Mason & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Mason & Associates LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,850,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 64,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,916,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares during the last quarter. Amara Financial LLC. acquired a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $288,000. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 69,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,269,000 after purchasing an additional 2,565 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $238.03 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market cap of $3.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $239.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.85.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. On average, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.88.

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.