Comerica Bank Sells 100,000 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Comerica Bank decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,941,190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 100,000 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 3.5% of Comerica Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $830,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Granite Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Bellwether Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 387.3% during the second quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after purchasing an additional 19,352 shares in the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the second quarter worth about $876,000. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its position in Apple by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 920,737 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $193,926,000 after buying an additional 8,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WT Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $80,057,000. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $225.12 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $226.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.45. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. Apple’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

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.