Central Bank & Trust Co. reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL – Get a rating) by 7.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund held 110,503 shares of the iPhone maker after selling 8,416 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.1% of Central Bank & Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th-largest position. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $19,295,000 at the end of the last reporting period.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently changed their positions in the stock. Elk River Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings of Apple shares by 49.0% in the first quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 167,122 shares of the iPhone maker valued at $29,181,000 after buying an additional 54,989 shares in the last quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank increased its holdings of Apple shares by 1.5% in the first quarter. Piscataqua Savings Bank now owns 47,546 shares of the iPhone maker valued at $8,302,000 after buying an additional 684 shares in the last quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC increased its holdings of Apple shares by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Fountainhead AM LLC now owns 45,544 shares of the iPhone maker valued at $7,732,000 after buying 4,738 additional shares in the last quarter. Primoris Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at around $4,282,000. Finally, Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at around $2,588,000. 57.98% of the shares are held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
In other Apple news, please Katherine L. Adams sold 25,000 shares in a trade that took place on Wednesday, May 4. The shares were sold at an average price of $161.72, for a total transaction of $4,043,000.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 452,334 shares of the company, valued at $73,151,454.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, accessible via the SEC website. Additionally, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 8,000 shares in a trade that took place on Monday, April 18. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.91, for a total transaction of $1,319,280.00. Following the transaction, the Senior Vice President now directly owns 136,290 shares of the company, valued at approximately $22,475,583.90. Disclosure of this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s shares.
A number of equity research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. StockNews.com began covering Apple shares in a report on Thursday, March 31. They issued a “holding” rating for the company. Fundamental Research lowered its price target on Apple shares from $179.32 to $175.24 and set an “average” rating on the stock in a Friday, May 6 research note. Deutsche Bank Rese… set a price target of $210.00 on Apple shares in a Friday, April 8 research note. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a price target of $190.00 on Apple shares in a Wednesday, June 8 research note. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a price target of $170.00 on Apple shares in a Monday, May 2 research note. Nine equity research analysts gave the stock a hold rating, twenty-four gave the company a buy rating and one gave the company a high buy rating. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $184.83.
Shares of AAPL opened at $146.35 on Friday. The company has a debt ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.93. The company has a market capitalization of $2.37 trillion, a price-earnings ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $160.21. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $129.04 and a 1-year high of $182.94.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL – Get a rating) last reported quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 28. The iPhone maker reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.52 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.09. The company posted revenue of $97.28 billion for the quarter, versus a consensus estimate of $93.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.41% and a return on equity of 152.88%. The company’s quarterly revenue increased by 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. In the same quarter a year earlier, the company posted earnings per share of $1.40. Stock analysts expect Apple Inc. to post EPS of 6.1 for the current fiscal year.
Apple announced that its board launched a stock repurchase program on Thursday, April 28 that allows the company to repurchase $90.00 billion worth of stock. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that a company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 12. Investors of record on Monday, May 9 received a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 6. This represents an annualized dividend of $0.92 and a dividend yield of 0.63%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.94%.
About Apple (Get a rating)
Apple Inc designs, manufactures and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories worldwide. It also sells various related services. Additionally, the company offers iPhone, a range of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a range of versatile tablets; AirPods Max, an over-ear wireless headset; and wearables, home and accessories including AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, HomePod and iPod touch.
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