Mattern Wealth Management LLC Lowers Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Mattern Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 19.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 74,049 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 17,785 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 3.2% of Mattern Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Mattern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of AAPL. Ryan Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Elite Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth $58,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth $99,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 8,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,168,373.35. This represents a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on shares of Apple from $223.00 to $241.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $248.29.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $252.29 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $216.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The firm has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.78%.

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.