Melfa Wealth Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Melfa Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,545 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 262 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.9% of Melfa Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Melfa Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 116,483.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 569,554,722 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $74,002,245,000 after purchasing an additional 569,066,184 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $21,746,940,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 208,655,323 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,110,586,000 after purchasing an additional 25,926,552 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 60.0% in the 2nd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 46,932,352 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,103,464,000 after purchasing an additional 17,604,799 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 154.9% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 23,295,770 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,729,270,000 after purchasing an additional 14,157,430 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Maxim Group assumed coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating and a $178.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Apple from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.34.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $802,392,181.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $167.04 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $162.80 and a 1 year high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market cap of $2.58 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.02, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $175.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $182.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Investors of record on Monday, February 12th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.95%.

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.