MGB Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,518 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MGB Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,828 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,518 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.4% of MGB Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. MGB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,697,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Bull Oak Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its holdings in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $110,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Bank of America increased their target price on Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.68.

Apple Stock Performance

Apple stock opened at $243.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $230.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.05. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $244.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.