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

First National Trust Co lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 619,079 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 1,502 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for 4.3% of First National Trust Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. First National Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $106,160,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 69.0% in the 4th quarter. Wyrmwood Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. purchased a new position in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 118.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 218 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. increased its holdings in Apple by 657.1% during the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on AAPL shares. Itau BBA Securities upgraded shares of Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $162.00 to $188.00 in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 21st. Evercore ISI restated a “buy” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $215.71.

Apple Trading Up 1.5 %

AAPL stock traded up $3.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $224.90. 25,147,992 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 64,596,133. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.89, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $225.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $196.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.37 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.31% and a return on equity of 148.33%. Apple’s revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.55%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total value of $10,188,879.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,574,531.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock worth $34,771,329. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.