Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Matthew 25 Management Corp’s 8th Largest Position

Matthew 25 Management Corp decreased its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 5.0% of Matthew 25 Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Matthew 25 Management Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Theory Financial LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 97.0% during the 4th quarter. Theory Financial LLC now owns 2,031 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $509,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 462,148 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $115,731,000 after buying an additional 24,823 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779 shares in the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $2,553,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter worth $4,863,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 0.4 %

Apple stock opened at $213.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.86, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $212.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $228.83. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.53 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Apple from $325.00 to $250.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Raymond James cut their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $263.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Apple from $275.00 to $245.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $232.63.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.