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

Mather Group LLC. decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 49.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 203,473 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 199,566 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 0.6% of Mather Group LLC.’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Apple were worth $47,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the 1st quarter worth $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its position in Apple by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the second quarter valued at $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.6 %

AAPL opened at $229.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $227.73 and its 200-day moving average is $218.06. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm 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 posted $1.46 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on AAPL. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.25.

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.