Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Increased by Mason & Associates Inc

Mason & Associates Inc increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,644 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.0% of Mason & Associates Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Mason & Associates Inc’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. American Trust lifted its stake in Apple by 3.1% in the first quarter. American Trust now owns 64,746 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Jackson Wealth Management LLC now owns 197,961 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,946,000 after purchasing an additional 4,798 shares during the last quarter. Bush Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $1,002,000. Keynote Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter worth $7,798,000. Finally, SRN Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 5.4% during the first quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 4,354 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $747,000 after buying an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Melius Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $254.49 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $234.97 and its 200 day moving average is $225.70. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $255.00. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.86, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.