First Bank & Trust Cuts Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

First Bank & Trust cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,986 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 493 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Apple were worth $3,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 407,409 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $78,438,000 after purchasing an additional 4,948 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 323,639 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $62,310,000 after buying an additional 4,006 shares in the last quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $83,229,000. Smith Salley & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Smith Salley & Associates now owns 472,447 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $90,960,000 after acquiring an additional 13,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 9,270,449 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,795,668,000 after acquiring an additional 119,342 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Loop Capital upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $170.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $234.51.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $228.03 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $220.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $194.75. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $3.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.26 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that permits the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.