Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Enterprise Bank & Trust Co

Enterprise Bank & Trust Co lowered its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 8.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 68,626 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,577 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 4.0% of Enterprise Bank & Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Enterprise Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $11,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,318,064,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $253,766,929,000 after acquiring an additional 18,067,216 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Apple by 1.0% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 206,732,960 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,394,751,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018,010 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $33,912,466,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 14,395.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 70,700,395 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $136,119,470,000 after buying an additional 70,212,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 60,651,275 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,677,190,000 after buying an additional 2,096,360 shares during the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Erste Group Bank upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 14th. DA Davidson raised Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 11th. Loop Capital lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $185.00 to $170.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $209.38.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $207.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.18 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $187.87 and its 200-day moving average is $184.81. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $220.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.04.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.55%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to buyback $110.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total transaction of $16,864,085.49. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $574,260,512.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.