MFA Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 35.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,796 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 18,067 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.7% of MFA Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RAM Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. RAM Investment Partners LLC now owns 15,503 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,612,000 after buying an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 3.4% during the third quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC now owns 110,619 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $25,774,000 after acquiring an additional 3,588 shares during the period. Wallington Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 5.7% in the third quarter. Wallington Asset Management LLC now owns 131,557 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,653,000 after acquiring an additional 7,095 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 8.9% in the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 354,994 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,714,000 after acquiring an additional 28,891 shares during the period. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 5.3% during the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,812 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $254.49 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $255.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $234.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $225.48. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Moffett Nathanson dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $236.78.

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.