Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by American Trust

American Trust lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 6.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 66,307 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,414 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.8% of American Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. American Trust’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. London & Capital Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Apple by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. London & Capital Asset Management Ltd now owns 125,359 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $17,325,000 after acquiring an additional 6,589 shares during the period. AWM Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. AWM Capital LLC now owns 11,574 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 1,977 shares during the period. Gould Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Gould Capital LLC now owns 26,714 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,692,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Invst LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invst LLC now owns 59,888 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,409,000 after acquiring an additional 2,673 shares during the period. Finally, Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,320 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.60% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 0.5 %

Apple stock opened at $155.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $146.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a PEG ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.30. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $124.17 and a 52-week high of $179.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.93 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $117.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $121.67 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.56% and a return on equity of 163.45%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 13th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.62%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $195.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. UBS Group set a $180.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $175.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, February 6th. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.24.

Apple Company Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.