Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY

Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY lowered its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 138,429 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 863 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.5% of Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,986,000 after buying an additional 1,643 shares during the last quarter. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 132.8% during the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,283,000 after buying an additional 18,615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sunpointe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,782,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.7 %

AAPL opened at $220.82 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $223.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock worth $23,723,887. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $265.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Apple from $187.00 to $186.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.62.

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.