Ledyard National Bank Sells 4,819 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Ledyard National Bank lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 268,406 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 4,819 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 5.7% of Ledyard National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $62,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the second quarter valued at $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc grew its position in Apple by 88.9% during the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. grew its position in Apple by 34.3% during the third quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP grew its position 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 buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at about $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $253.48 on Wednesday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $253.83. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $233.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly 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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp lowered shares of Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $256.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. New Street Research reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.