Trust Investment Advisors Has $11.45 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Trust Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 54,343 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,309 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 7.3% of Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Trust Investment Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $11,446,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its stake in Apple by 14,145.8% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after acquiring an additional 7,558,826 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 158.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 11,532,438 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,977,582,000 after acquiring an additional 7,067,379 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 161.2% during the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,759,445 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,502,068,000 after acquiring an additional 5,405,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $834,368,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 412,746 shares of company stock worth $93,021,362. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Loop Capital lowered their price objective on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Apple Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $227.48 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.41, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $226.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $213.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Apple’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.