Members Trust Co Sells 2,304 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Members Trust Co lessened its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,887 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,304 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 0.2% of Members Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Members Trust Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $5,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 249,461 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,710,000 after buying an additional 10,955 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in shares of Apple by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 1,020,415 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $174,705,000 after buying an additional 21,458 shares in the last quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 535,030 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $91,603,000 after buying an additional 26,218 shares in the last quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apple by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 1,488 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $255,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 39,969 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 1.4 %

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $3.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $224.57. 23,361,467 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 64,584,953. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $164.07 and a 52-week high of $225.44. The firm has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.89, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.10. 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 (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $90.75 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Melius Research lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $227.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $195.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $164.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-four have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $215.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,162 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $172.22, for a total transaction of $10,188,879.64. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $84,378,155.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 192,355 shares of company stock valued at $34,771,329. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.