First Interstate Bank Reduces Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• First Interstate Bank reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 4.9%, selling 4,237 shares in the 1st quarter, which now represents 1.1% of its portfolio, valued at approximately $18.4 million.
• Notable institutional activity includes Norges Bank acquiring a significant new position valued at approximately $46.87 billion and GAMMA Investing LLC significantly increasing their holdings by over 25,934%.
• Apple announced a $100 billion stock buyback plan and paid a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, reflecting a commitment to returning value to shareholders amidst a strong earnings report.

First Interstate Bank trimmed its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 82,968 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,237 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 1.1% of First Interstate Bank's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. First Interstate Bank's holdings in Apple were worth $18,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC now owns 13,815 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Salus Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the first quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Disciplined Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Disciplined Investments LLC now owns 7,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $1,794,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its position in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 1.3% in the first quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $892,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Loop Capital reduced their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.37.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $30,508,538.40. The trade was a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of AAPL traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $232.14. 39,382,353 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 55,684,536. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $215.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.71. The company has a market cap of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

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.