Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by MCF Advisors LLC

MCF Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 3.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,058 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,804 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 1.4% of MCF Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. MCF Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $19,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its stake in Apple by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after buying an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,544,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 66,857 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $16,742,000 after acquiring an additional 2,695 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, DA Davidson restated a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.05.

Apple Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $1.26 during trading on Thursday, reaching $239.73. The stock had a trading volume of 46,159,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,761,625. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The business's 50-day moving average price is $217.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $212.92. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.38, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Company 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.