Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Has $73.24 Million Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 314,311 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 6.3% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $73,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Lantz Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 8.6% during the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 29,751 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,266,000 after acquiring an additional 2,361 shares in the last quarter. Sinecera Capital LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sinecera Capital LLC now owns 9,946 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,095,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Raelipskie Partnership raised its stake in shares of Apple by 1.5% in the second quarter. Raelipskie Partnership now owns 22,899 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,823,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.1% in the second quarter. Compton Financial Group LLC now owns 5,446 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,147,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Everpar Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 14.5% during the second quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 45,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,567,000 after buying an additional 5,759 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $233.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $240.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $230.52. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.37, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The firm 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%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.46 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on AAPL. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $184.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $239.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.