Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Decreased by Rockland Trust Co.

Rockland Trust Co. lessened its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 256,539 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 5,090 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 2.9% of Rockland Trust Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $59,774,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Granite Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC now owns 289,421 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $60,958,000 after acquiring an additional 7,606 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp lifted its position in Apple by 1.8% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 6,994,703 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,473,224,000 after purchasing an additional 126,210 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 5.2% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,928,110 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $406,099,000 after acquiring an additional 95,235 shares during the period. Bellwether Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 387.3% in the second quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 24,349 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,128,000 after acquiring an additional 19,352 shares during the period. Finally, Gentry Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the second quarter valued at approximately $876,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. This represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 408,170 shares of company stock worth $92,007,745. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. KeyCorp cut Apple from a “sector weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $261.00 to $262.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $235.25.

Apple Stock Up 0.3 %

AAPL stock opened at $229.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $3.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $227.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $217.40. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $164.07 and a 1-year high of $237.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $94.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

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

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.