MFA Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MFA Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 53,908 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,289 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.5% of MFA Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $7,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can bought a new stake in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $1,890,884,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Apple by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 30,235,823 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,178,590,000 after acquiring an additional 10,471,342 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $221,753,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,734,393 shares during the last quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $1,075,599,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Apple by 13.1% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 71,060,708 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,407,910,000 after acquiring an additional 8,230,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total transaction of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,881,483.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,483.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 77,817 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.11, for a total transaction of $12,926,181.87. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,363,335.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 439,529 shares of company stock worth $71,703,657 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $175.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.76 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.74, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $164.84 and its 200 day moving average is $150.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $176.39.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.84 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 15th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Cowen cut their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.74.

About Apple

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.