Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Decreased by Central Bank & Trust Co.

Central Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 92,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,304 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.0% of Central Bank & Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 9.8% during the second quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 143,716 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $30,269,000 after acquiring an additional 12,848 shares in the last quarter. Tsfg LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 10.9% during the second quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 53,451 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,258,000 after acquiring an additional 5,233 shares in the last quarter. Holland Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the second quarter. Holland Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,073 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,700,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the second quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 51,290 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on AAPL. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $242.70 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.92, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $239.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $229.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

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.