Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Increased by Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,090,242 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,346 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 6.6% of Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $254,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Apple in the first quarter worth $3,026,492,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 14,145.8% during the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 7,612,261 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,603,000 after purchasing an additional 7,558,826 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $834,368,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. Finally, Tairen Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Apple during the second quarter worth about $588,952,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 59,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,416,137.76. This represents a 35.49 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of AAPL opened at $251.04 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $251.38. The company’s fifty day moving average is $233.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $224.30. The firm has a market cap of $3.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

Apple Company 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.