MBE Wealth Management LLC Acquires 158 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MBE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,819 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 0.6% of MBE Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. MBE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $1,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. M3 Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 16,088 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,388,000 after purchasing an additional 2,081 shares during the last quarter. Essex Private Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 6.6% during the second quarter. Essex Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,403 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,349,000 after buying an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Ergawealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ergawealth Advisors Inc. now owns 31,852 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,709,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares during the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 485,956 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $102,376,000 after acquiring an additional 8,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One SA PTY Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 164.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One SA PTY Ltd now owns 172,265 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,756,000 after acquiring an additional 107,014 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. KeyCorp restated a “hold” rating and issued a $247.61 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.17.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $228.20 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $222.41 and its 200-day moving average is $199.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.49, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.