Mendota Financial Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Mendota Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 25.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,728 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 583 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.3% of Mendota Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Mendota Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. O Connor Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 3,578 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $896,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.5% in the third quarter. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 0.4% during the third quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,848,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Finally, Latitude Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,016,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on AAPL. KeyCorp restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group set a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Argus upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $247.10 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $240.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.71 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.

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.