Plimoth Trust Co. LLC Raises Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC grew its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 111,896 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,093 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 6.6% of Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its largest holding. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $26,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% during the third quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 349,192 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $81,361,000 after purchasing an additional 2,021 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.9% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,090,242 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $254,026,000 after purchasing an additional 30,346 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 1,792,646 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $417,687,000 after acquiring an additional 66,590 shares in the last quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 24.1% in the third quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC now owns 8,789 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,048,000 after acquiring an additional 1,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.3% during the third quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $813,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 1.2 %

AAPL stock opened at $251.04 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $233.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $224.30. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $164.07 and a 12 month high of $251.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 41.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.45%.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock valued at $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $236.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded 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 research report on Monday, October 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $236.78.

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.