Midland Wealth Advisors LLC Trims Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Midland Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,507 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,416 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 0.8% of Midland Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $13,900,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $288,000. Simmons Bank boosted its holdings in Apple by 1.6% during the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $30,905,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth about $4,972,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp boosted its holdings in Apple by 6.3% during the third quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 28,626 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardano Risk Management B.V. boosted its holdings in Apple by 2.9% during the third quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,723,104 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $876,483,000 after purchasing an additional 103,856 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $1.92 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $206.86. The company had a trading volume of 42,411,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,950,271. The company has a fifty day moving average of $205.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $226.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.20%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $259.00 to $256.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $235.80.

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.