Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Raised by Trust Co of the South

Trust Co of the South increased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 21.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 15,758 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 4.6% of Trust Co of the South’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 11,509 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,882,000 after buying an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. Old Port Advisors lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 39,970 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,009,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Penney Financial LLC boosted its position in Apple by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Penney Financial LLC now owns 7,852 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,829,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. SK Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,304,000. Finally, SMART Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. SMART Wealth LLC now owns 14,580 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,397,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on AAPL. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America upped their price target on Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Apple from $255.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Apple Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $244.60 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $240.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $231.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.83, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.