Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank trimmed its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,141,361 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 7,878 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 5.3% of Eastern Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $285,820,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 20,372.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after acquiring an additional 93,886,664 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Apple by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 584,010,284 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $136,074,372,000 after acquiring an additional 55,935,105 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 6.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 333,857,500 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $77,542,863,000 after buying an additional 20,483,787 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in Apple by 5.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 363,859,362 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $84,779,231,000 after buying an additional 18,224,005 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 6.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after purchasing an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This trade represents a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $245.55 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 2.44 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $240.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $232.72. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson set a $290.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Apple to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $325.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.85.

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.