Equitable Trust Co. Sells 18,937 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Equitable Trust Co. sold 18,937 shares of Apple Inc., decreasing its holdings by 8.6% and making Apple its 6th biggest position in the portfolio, valued at approximately $44.89 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Vanguard Group and Geode Capital Management, have recently increased their stakes in Apple, indicating a growing institutional interest in the company.
• Apple reported $94.04 billion in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with a 9.6% year-over-year increase, and a quarterly EPS of $1.57.

Equitable Trust Co. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 202,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 18,937 shares during the period. Apple comprises 2.5% of Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Equitable Trust Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $44,889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 25,934.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $133,425,490,000 after purchasing an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 23,555.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $5,272,653,000 after purchasing an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.0%

AAPL traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $239.69. 54,829,143 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 47,688,568. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.11. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $219.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple's payout ratio is 15.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $266.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $239.05.

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.