Matrix Private Capital Group LLC Buys 299 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Matrix Private Capital Group LLC grew its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,312 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 299 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 2.2% of Matrix Private Capital Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Granite Investment Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after purchasing an additional 7,606 shares during the last quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 387.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,128,000 after acquiring an additional 19,352 shares in the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $876,000. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.9% in the second quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 920,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $193,926,000 after purchasing an additional 8,028 shares during the period. Finally, WT Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $80,057,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. KeyCorp cut shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $225.12 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $237.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $215.45.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.