First Western Trust Bank Acquires 23,971 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

First Western Trust Bank raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 25.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 118,068 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,971 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 1.2% of First Western Trust Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $24,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bellwether Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apple by 387.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,128,000 after purchasing an additional 19,352 shares in the last quarter. WT Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at $80,057,000. Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at $11,776,000. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 5,488 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $941,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 617,582 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $105,903,000 after buying an additional 6,567 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on AAPL. Maxim Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $203.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Cfra raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $273.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $239.27.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $235.00 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $225.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $237.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The company had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total transaction of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares in the company, valued at $39,542,136.92. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,223,062.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 over the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.