Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s Largest Position

Mechanics Bank Trust Department grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 85.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 271,007 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 124,686 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 8.4% of Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Apple were worth $63,145,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% in 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 during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $208,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total transaction of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on AAPL. UBS Group boosted their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Oppenheimer reissued a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.68.

Apple Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $237.33 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $229.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $220.02. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.03, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.46 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.