MFA Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 18,067 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

MFA Wealth Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 35.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,796 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 18,067 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.7% of MFA Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $7,641,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Cordant Inc. grew its position in Apple by 34.3% in the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $158,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Hoese & Co LLP increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock traded up $4.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $254.49. 145,580,875 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 57,671,145. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $255.00. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $234.97 and a 200 day moving average of $225.48. The company has a market capitalization of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, December 13th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 29th. New Street Research restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $236.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 508,170 shares of company stock worth $117,004,745 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.