Melfa Wealth Management Inc. Acquires 727 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Melfa Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,446 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 727 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 4.1% of Melfa Wealth Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Melfa Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 351,175 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $87,941,000 after buying an additional 2,381 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 9,459 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,369,000 after buying an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Trust Asset Management LLC now owns 53,466 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,389,000 after buying an additional 633 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 118,983 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $29,796,000 after buying an additional 5,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 154,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $38,749,000 after buying an additional 1,995 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % 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. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. UBS Group increased their price objective on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays upped their target price on Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.22.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $216.98 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $235.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $234.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.44, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.08 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

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.