Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Central Bank & Trust Co.

Central Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 92,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 6,304 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 3.0% of Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $21,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Cordant Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 34.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Wedbush boosted their target price on Apple from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 26th. Maxim Group boosted their target price on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $237.64.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $242.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 39.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $239.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.66. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS 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%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio 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.