Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Purchased by Matrix Trust Co

Matrix Trust Co lifted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,184 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Apple makes up 0.5% of Matrix Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Matrix Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $2,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Apple by 127.4% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after buying an additional 42,282 shares during the last quarter. Lutz Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Lutz Financial Services LLC now owns 5,902 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. BCU Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. BCU Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,627 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $622,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Etfidea LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Etfidea LLC now owns 15,853 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,718,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westchester Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Westchester Capital Management Inc. now owns 175,926 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,168,000 after purchasing an additional 720 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following 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. This trade represents a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson decreased their price target on Apple from $211.00 to $202.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Maxim Group upped their price target on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.25.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

Apple stock opened at $234.93 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.49. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $228.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $219.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

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.