Hills Bank & Trust Co Sells 5,218 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Hills Bank & Trust Co lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,164 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,218 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 2.3% of Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 988,057 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $190,231,000 after buying an additional 38,221 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in Apple by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 81,056 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $15,606,000 after purchasing an additional 3,430 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 285,752 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $55,016,000 after purchasing an additional 9,962 shares in the last quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Islay Capital Management LLC now owns 21,527 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $4,145,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 54,191 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,434,000 after buying an additional 2,777 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $233.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $202.80.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.26 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Maxim Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $203.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.76.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total value of $20,644,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.