Raymond James Trust N.A. Sells 2,228 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Raymond James Trust N.A. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 723,674 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,228 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 3.7% of Raymond James Trust N.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Apple were worth $168,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 94,942,731 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $22,121,656,000 after acquiring an additional 5,893,741 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 20,372.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 94,347,510 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $219,829,700,000 after purchasing an additional 93,886,664 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the second 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 position in Apple by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 51,765,589 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $10,909,457,000 after buying an additional 3,245,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Apple by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 34,619,614 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $7,291,583,000 after buying an additional 1,065,759 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Raymond James raised their price target on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Apple from $280.00 to $294.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Moffett Nathanson reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $188.00 target price (down previously from $202.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.52.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $236.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $241.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $230.86. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $164.07 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. On average, research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 13th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.87%.

Insider Activity at Apple

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

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.