American Trust Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

American Trust raised its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 11.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,174 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,428 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up approximately 1.2% of American Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. American Trust’s holdings in Apple were worth $15,201,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Apple by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 52,981,808 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $11,160,183,000 after purchasing an additional 2,785,807 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,245,281 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Apple by 7.1% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 37,146,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,369,852,000 after buying an additional 2,474,887 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $7,291,583,000 after buying an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 29,515,371 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,061,296,000 after buying an additional 485,873 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $225.00 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business’s 50 day moving average is $227.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $216.61. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $237.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. The firm had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.46 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. New Street Research restated a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson started coverage on Apple in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $211.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 404,040 shares of company stock valued at $91,062,512. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple 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.