Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by Banque Transatlantique SA

Key Points

• Banque Transatlantique SA cut its Apple stake by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 27,740 shares but still holding 993,167 shares worth about $269.5 million.
• Apple recently reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $2.01 and revenue of $111.18 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations. Revenue rose 16.6% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on Apple, with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $314.59, while some analysts have boosted targets as high as $380.

Banque Transatlantique SA trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 993,167 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 27,740 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 6.5% of Banque Transatlantique SA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Banque Transatlantique SA's holdings in Apple were worth $269,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Isthmus Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 6.4% during the third quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 97,177 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 5,808 shares in the last quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% in the first quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $65,000. Timmons Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $69,000. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $298.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $289.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $196.85 and a twelve month high of $317.40.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $111.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $109.46 billion. Apple had a net margin of 27.15% and a return on equity of 146.69%. Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 16.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.65 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 8.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.27 per share. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 30,002 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.35, for a total transaction of $7,661,010.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 136,810 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $34,934,433.50. This represents a 17.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 64,949 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $254.23, for a total transaction of $16,511,984.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 3,280,418 shares in the company, valued at approximately $833,980,668.14. This represents a 1.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,875 shares of company stock worth $24,998,541. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apple

Here are the key news stories impacting Apple this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Apple’s planned price increases could protect margins as memory and storage costs rise, and Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating with a $380 target, citing Apple’s pricing power and supply-chain strength. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports of upcoming AI-focused devices and a second-generation iPhone Air support confidence in Apple’s product pipeline and longer-term growth story. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple’s planned price hikes may help earnings, but they could also pressure demand if consumers balk at higher handset prices. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Apple opening Brazil’s App Store to alternative marketplaces reduces regulatory friction there, but it also underscores ongoing global platform scrutiny. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $310.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, June 8th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating and issued a $375.00 target price (up from $305.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $330.00 price target on Apple in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $314.59.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc NASDAQ: AAPL is a multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company designs, develops and sells consumer electronics, software and services. Over its history Apple has evolved from personal computers to a broad portfolio that spans mobile devices, wearables, home entertainment and digital services.

Apple's principal hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, iPad tablet, Mac personal computers, Apple Watch wearable devices and a range of accessories such as AirPods and HomePod.

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