Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by MBA Advisors LLC

MBA Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,521 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 840 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 2.1% of MBA Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Loop Capital dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $226.01 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $211.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $213.15. The company has a market cap of $3.35 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.