Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Hills Bank & Trust Co’s 7th Largest Position

Hills Bank & Trust Co cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 154,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,449 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 3.0% of Hills Bank & Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $20,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Robinson Value Management Ltd. purchased a new position in Apple during the third quarter worth $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 75.4% during the third quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC boosted its stake in Apple by 21.7% during the first quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Align Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth $60,000. 57.60% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.26, for a total value of $708,979.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,946 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,483.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 439,529 shares of company stock worth $71,703,657 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Fundamental Research set a $183.86 price objective on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 17th. Loop Capital downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on Apple from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 26th. Finally, Atlantic Securities lifted their target price on Apple from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and twenty-six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.74.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $174.20 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $124.17 and a fifty-two week high of $176.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.58, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a return on equity of 165.72% and a net margin of 24.49%. The business had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $92.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 4th that authorizes the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 18th. Investors of record on Monday, May 15th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 12th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.30%.

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.