Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Emprise Bank’s 8th Largest Position

Emprise Bank decreased its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,258 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,531 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 3.3% of Emprise Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Emprise Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Apple by 17.9% in the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP grew its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% during the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $175,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sage Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter worth $206,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Melius Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. StockNews.com lowered Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $235.51.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction 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 $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at approximately $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 10.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL stock opened at $228.02 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $227.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $217.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.50, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $237.49.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th 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 Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

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.