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

MRA Advisory Group cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 19.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,544 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,348 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 2.1% of MRA Advisory Group's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. MRA Advisory Group's holdings in Apple were worth $3,897,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Foster Group Inc. raised its position in Apple by 4.1% during the first quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 144,750 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $32,153,000 after purchasing an additional 5,645 shares during the period. Fjell Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.6% in the first quarter. Fjell Capital LLC now owns 15,301 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,399,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 44.3% in the first quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 271,749 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $60,364,000 after buying an additional 83,423 shares during the period. Annex Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.2% in the first quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 391,808 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $87,032,000 after buying an additional 48,783 shares during the period. Finally, Breakwater Capital Group raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 87,873 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $19,519,000 after buying an additional 3,281 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson increased their price target on Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group set a $210.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Tigress Financial increased their price target on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Scotiabank cut Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $234.95.

Apple Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.92 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $213.36. 34,955,836 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 53,594,994. 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 market cap of $3.19 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $203.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $218.44. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

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

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.