Morningstar Investment Management LLC Acquires 64,177 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Morningstar Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 296,355 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,177 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.3% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $60,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its position in Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $16,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares during the period. Finally, Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Apple by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 50,264 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,155 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. CLSA upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 5th. HSBC set a $220.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Moffett Nathanson upgraded Apple from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Melius raised their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.22.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $275.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $253.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $225.75. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $277.32. The company has a market capitalization of $4.07 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $101.65 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.64 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 13.92%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 224,300 shares of company stock worth $57,586,933 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.