BankPlus Trust Department Makes New Investment in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 50,369 shares of the iPhone maker's stock, valued at approximately $12,613,000. Apple accounts for about 4.1% of BankPlus Trust Department's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Latitude Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 17,236 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $4,016,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Sensible Financial Planning & Management LLC. bought a new position in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,577,000. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Lebenthal Global Advisors LLC now owns 49,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $11,531,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Values Added Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Values Added Financial LLC now owns 26,561 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,189,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sitrin Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sitrin Capital Management LLC now owns 50,501 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $11,767,000 after purchasing an additional 11,936 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Rosenblatt Securities lowered shares of Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday. Argus raised Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Maxim Group increased their price target on Apple to $215.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.17.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140 over the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded down $7.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $205.35. The stock had a trading volume of 100,891,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,192,627. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $212.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $228.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.