Mather Group LLC. Grows Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Mather Group LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 206,511 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,038 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.7% of Mather Group LLC.'s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Mather Group LLC.'s holdings in Apple were worth $51,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Drystone LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth approximately $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $14.81 during trading on Friday, reaching $188.38. 125,530,035 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 55,311,458. The company has a 50-day moving average of $230.14 and a 200-day moving average of $233.15. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.08 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Remove Ads

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This trade represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. This represents a 17.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 182,451 shares of company stock valued at $40,818,720 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus raised shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Moffett Nathanson reissued a "sell" rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $245.26.

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.