Mather Group LLC. Trims Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Mather Group LLC. lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 17.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 197,342 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 42,939 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 0.5% of Mather Group LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Apple were worth $33,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its position in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after buying an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Maxim Group initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $178.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares in the company, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock valued at $60,880,196 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $207.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $187.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $184.87. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $220.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.52 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.