MFA Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 2,533 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

MFA Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,580 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,533 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 1.6% of MFA Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $6,890,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC lifted its position in Apple by 573,627.2% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $39,065,374,000 after buying an additional 205,656,808 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $46,868,648,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL opened at $258.02 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $233.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.69. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $169.21 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $247.49.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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