M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. Purchases New Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,827 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,960,000. Apple makes up about 2.1% of M.E. Allison & CO. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. O Connor Financial Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. grew its position in Apple by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 3,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $945,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $239.07 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $237.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $234.03. 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 $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.95, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.08 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 price target (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Oppenheimer lowered Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently 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.