Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,977,953 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 13,507 shares during the period. Apple comprises 6.0% of Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $416,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Access Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter valued at about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP boosted its holdings in Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Benchmark Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. Finally, Sequent Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $214,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.27.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $235.86 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The company has a market cap of $3.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 36.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $226.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $209.33.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.26 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.52, for a total transaction of $13,433,768.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $24,416,137.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

About Apple

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.