Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Smithfield Trust Co

Smithfield Trust Co cut its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 280,138 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 180 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 3.2% of Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $65,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 0.5% in the second quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,574 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,809,000 after buying an additional 239 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 157.1% during the 2nd quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 47,854 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $10,079,000 after acquiring an additional 29,239 shares during the last quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP grew its holdings in Apple by 60.5% during the second quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP now owns 205,466 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $43,275,000 after purchasing an additional 77,466 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the second quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 40,512 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $8,533,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 6.3% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,786,956 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,008,229,000 after purchasing an additional 284,217 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Maxim Group lifted their price objective on Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Oppenheimer downgraded Apple from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Moffett Nathanson restated a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $286.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.05.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $237.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $230.81. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 39.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,528,946.53. This trade represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $97,474,301.68. This represents a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company 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.