Exchange Bank Cuts Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Exchange Bank decreased its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,334 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,121 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.1% of Exchange Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Exchange Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wyrmwood Management LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 69.0% during the fourth quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 118.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. boosted its stake in Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $85,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $216.75 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $220.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $185.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $162.00 to $188.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. DZ Bank reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, Melius Research upped their target price on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

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.