First PREMIER Bank Reduces Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

First PREMIER Bank reduced its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,983 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 484 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.9% of First PREMIER Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. First PREMIER Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $23,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the second quarter valued at $42,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $209.68 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.08 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.28, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $235.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $253.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Argus raised shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned 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 $243.22.

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.