MBA Advisors LLC Sells 4,210 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MBA Advisors LLC cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,361 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,210 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.6% of MBA Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. MBA Advisors LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,099,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted 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 valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $110,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 4.1 %

AAPL opened at $198.15 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $222.87 and its 200 day moving average is $231.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus raised Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Apple from $183.00 to $197.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $240.26.

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.