FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Sells 4,055 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,039 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,055 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 6.1% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Flagstone Financial Management boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Flagstone Financial Management now owns 6,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. High Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,506 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,638,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Corporation boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Asset Planning Corporation now owns 6,135 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 11,224 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stableford Capital II LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 0.3% in the first quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC now owns 17,156 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,942,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. DZ Bank restated a “hold” rating and issued a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apple from $225.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $218.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total value of $951,809.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares in the company, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

AAPL opened at $230.54 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $233.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $203.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $187.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.54 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.85, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $90.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.25 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that allows the company to buyback $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Company 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.