42,448 Shares in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Purchased by Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC

Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 42,448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $7,982,000. Apple makes up approximately 5.9% of Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Headinvest LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.7% during the third quarter. Headinvest LLC now owns 53,155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,236,000 after buying an additional 872 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Apple by 16.1% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 75,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $14,461,000 after buying an additional 10,425 shares during the period. DNB Asset Management AS grew its position in Apple by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 4,307,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $829,240,000 after buying an additional 279,311 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management grew its position in Apple by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 37,178 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,158,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its position in Apple by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 808,709 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $155,701,000 after buying an additional 112,980 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $196.00 target price (up previously from $189.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.44.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 371,270 shares of company stock valued at $64,605,696. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $189.98 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.04. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $2.91 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are 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.