Matthew 25 Management Corp Cuts Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Matthew 25 Management Corp cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 66,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.9% of Matthew 25 Management Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Matthew 25 Management Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $14,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Aprio Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 37.0% during the 1st quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,696 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,950,000 after buying an additional 9,369 shares during the last quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 15.2% during the first quarter. Threadgill Financial LLC now owns 10,985 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,884,000 after acquiring an additional 1,452 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its position in Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 128,916 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,107,000 after purchasing an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 2.4% in the first quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 287,606 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,319,000 after purchasing an additional 6,795 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 186,336 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $31,953,000 after purchasing an additional 6,454 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson initiated coverage on Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

Apple Stock Down 0.3 %

AAPL stock opened at $235.86 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.33.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.