MBA Advisors LLC Sells 853 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MBA Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,571 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 853 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 2.7% of MBA Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its position in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. New Street Research reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Maxim Group lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays decreased their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.47.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % 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 Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $255.59 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $237.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $227.89. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.86 trillion, a P/E ratio of 42.04, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.