Trust Co. of Vermont Purchases 94,707 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 20.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 558,220 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 94,707 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 6.1% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Apple were worth $77,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 123,534,393 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $16,889,649,000 after buying an additional 9,411,018 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,269,995,750 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $221,753,959,000 after acquiring an additional 8,734,393 shares in the last quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. raised its position in Apple by 12.1% during the second quarter. UBS Asset Management Americas Inc. now owns 80,467,043 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $11,001,469,000 after acquiring an additional 8,716,964 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Apple by 13.1% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 71,060,708 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $12,407,910,000 after acquiring an additional 8,230,300 shares during the period. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 29,097.9% during the 1st quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,300,881 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $189,000 after purchasing an additional 5,282,726 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 20,200 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.72, for a total transaction of $3,004,144.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,505 shares in the company, valued at $4,685,423.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 20,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.72, for a total transaction of $3,004,144.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 31,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,685,423.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 176,299 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.95, for a total value of $27,493,829.05. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 110,673 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,259,454.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 3rd. UBS Group set a $180.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, November 8th. Wedbush lowered their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $175.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Apple from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.04.

Apple Price Performance

Apple stock opened at $135.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.95. The stock has a market cap of $2.14 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.14, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $138.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $148.10. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $124.17 and a 12-month high of $179.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 27th. The iPhone maker reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $90.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.77 billion. Apple had a net margin of 25.31% and a return on equity of 160.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 4th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.06%.

Apple Profile

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Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. It also sells various related services. In addition, 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.