Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc. Boosts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,484 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.6% of Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Muhlenkamp & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Austin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,428,000. WT Wealth Management raised its holdings in Apple by 13.7% in the third quarter. WT Wealth Management now owns 33,881 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,801,000 after buying an additional 4,084 shares during the last quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 0.8% in the third quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 16,335 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,797,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 7.8% in the third quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC now owns 59,081 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $9,768,000 after buying an additional 4,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 33,648,165 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,760,902,000 after buying an additional 520,296 shares during the last quarter. 58.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $172.62 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $183.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $183.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market cap of $2.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.89, a PEG ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $151.64 and a 12 month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s payout ratio is 14.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $189.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $208.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.27.

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.