Patron Partners LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Patron Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,207 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 6.0% of Patron Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,153,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 29.0% in the 2nd quarter. Hanlon Investment Management Inc. now owns 15,721 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,311,000 after purchasing an additional 3,537 shares during the period. Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 130.2% in the second quarter. Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC now owns 28,806 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,067,000 after buying an additional 16,295 shares in the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $876,000. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC grew its position in Apple by 5.3% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 9,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,091,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Apple by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 39,416 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,302,000 after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $203.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and set a $255.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total value of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $235.86 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $226.46 and its 200-day moving average is $209.33. The firm has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

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.