Old North State Trust LLC Sells 137 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Old North State Trust LLC lessened its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,854 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 137 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 8.3% of Old North State Trust LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Castellan Group boosted its position in Apple by 206.9% during the third quarter. Castellan Group now owns 5,782 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 3,898 shares during the period. Optimist Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth $1,290,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 1,091,062 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $254,217,000 after buying an additional 250,514 shares during the period. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,383,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 513,775 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $119,709,000 after acquiring an additional 152,262 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

AAPL opened at $244.60 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $240.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $231.59.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.87%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were 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 $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 is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value 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 trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AAPL. Citigroup raised their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $262.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, January 27th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.52.

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.