Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. Has $156.27 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 670,692 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 25,220 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.0% of Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $156,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc lifted its position in shares of Apple by 88.9% during the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AAPL. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and set a $188.00 price objective (down from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $211.84 to $200.75 in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $244.60 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $240.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $231.41. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $164.07 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was 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.

Apple 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.