St. Louis Trust Co Lowers Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

St. Louis Trust Co cut its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 19,559 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 348 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.6% of St. Louis Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. St. Louis Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $4,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Yeomans Consulting Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,713,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Apple by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,511 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,986,000 after acquiring an additional 1,643 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $38,406,000. Barden Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apple by 132.8% in the 4th quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,636 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,283,000 after purchasing an additional 18,615 shares during the period. Finally, Sunpointe LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,782,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $229.04 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $223.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $205.14. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on AAPL shares. KeyCorp reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $247.61 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating and set a $186.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $239.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total transaction of $13,550,347.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock worth $114,786,399 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.