Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Has $20.99 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 99,637 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,181 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.7% of Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,986,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 1st quarter worth $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $208,000. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth $214,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $235.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $225.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $208.11. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.27.

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.