Patron Partners LLC Sells 1,828 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Patron Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Apple Inc., selling 1,828 shares and lowering its position by 4.7%, leaving it with 37,180 shares valued at approximately $7.63 million.
• Insider selling has been notable, with two senior vice presidents collectively selling over 90,000 shares, indicating a decrease in their personal holdings by around 21% to 24% each.
• Analysts updated their price targets for Apple, with JPMorgan raising its target from $255 to $280 and the consensus average target currently at $248.29.

Patron Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,180 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,828 shares during the period. Apple comprises 3.8% of Patron Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Patron Partners LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $7,628,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its position in Apple by 573,627.2% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after buying an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the first quarter valued at approximately $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after buying an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its position in Apple by 27.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 68,190,569 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,870,795,000 after buying an additional 14,651,321 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the company's 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price target (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $248.29.

Apple Trading Down 3.5%

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.64 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.22, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $237.61 and a 200-day moving average of $215.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.

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