Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Patron Partners LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Patron Partners LLC lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,878 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 336 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 6.7% of Patron Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Patron Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $456,728,000 after buying an additional 435,891 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. lifted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Markel Corp lifted its stake in Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $210,752,000 after purchasing an additional 8,450 shares during the last quarter. Camden Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 9.2% during the first quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $27,305,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,806 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.04, for a total transaction of $884,496.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,383,795.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 123,448 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.79, for a total transaction of $23,305,747.92. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 293,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $55,365,688.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,806 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $184.04, for a total value of $884,496.24. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 34,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,383,795.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 567,839 shares of company stock worth $100,675,794. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $191.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $124.17 and a 1-year high of $198.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.98 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $177.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.03.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. Apple had a return on equity of 160.78% and a net margin of 25.31%. The business had revenue of $89.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 13th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Apple from $222.00 to $216.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 13th. KeyCorp restated a “sector weight” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Apple from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.25.

Apple 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.