Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Mechanics Bank Trust Department

Mechanics Bank Trust Department cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,245 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 567 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 3.8% of Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Apple were worth $25,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 14,395.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after acquiring an additional 70,212,651 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $253,766,929,000 after purchasing an additional 18,067,216 shares during the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC grew its stake in Apple by 23,076.4% during the 1st quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC now owns 9,240,214 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,584,512,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 130.1% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 9,430,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,815,594,000 after purchasing an additional 5,331,439 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 247,087 shares of company stock worth $44,016,111 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. DA Davidson raised shares of Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $215.71.

Apple Trading Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $210.62 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $220.20. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $192.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $185.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

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.