Catalyst Financial Partners LLC Purchases 5,885 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Catalyst Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 92,654 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,885 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.3% of Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Alta Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Alta Capital Management LLC now owns 513,307 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $108,113,000 after buying an additional 32,031 shares during the last quarter. Intrinsic Value Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at $424,000. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV raised its position in Apple by 1.8% in the 2nd quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 42,453 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,942,000 after buying an additional 753 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Apple by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. now owns 39,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,269,000 after buying an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Apple by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 106,350 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,400,000 after buying an additional 3,386 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $203.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on Apple from $190.00 to $236.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.76.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $226.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $222.39 and its 200 day moving average is $203.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at $5,223,062.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. 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.