MFG Wealth Management Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MFG Wealth Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 30.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,415 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,403 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 2.6% of MFG Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. MFG Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,758,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after buying an additional 20,966,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Bank of America increased their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Apple from $210.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.35 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $206.84 and its 200-day moving average is $213.21. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.16.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Apple Company 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.