MRA Advisory Group Trims Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MRA Advisory Group lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 19.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,544 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,348 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 2.1% of MRA Advisory Group's portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. MRA Advisory Group's holdings in Apple were worth $3,897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Drystone LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $65,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.92 during trading on Friday, reaching $213.36. 34,955,836 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,594,994. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $203.35 and a 200-day moving average of $218.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $170.62 to $188.32 in a research note on Tuesday. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.95.

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.