Apple Inc. $AAPL Stock Position Lowered by Truist Financial Corp

Key Points

• Truist Financial Corp has reduced its stake in Apple Inc. by 0.1% during the second quarter, now holding approximately 6.84 million shares valued at about $1.4 billion.
• Analysts have mixed views on Apple's stock, with recently adjusted target prices ranging from $226.00 to $290.00 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Apple reported a strong quarterly performance with an EPS of $1.57 and revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations.

Truist Financial Corp lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,836,934 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 3,796 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.1% of Truist Financial Corp's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Truist Financial Corp's holdings in Apple were worth $1,402,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the last quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $26,220,566,000 after purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 98,099,909 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $21,790,933,000 after purchasing an additional 984,157 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on AAPL. Loop Capital cut their target price on Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Moffett Nathanson raised Apple from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Apple in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $290.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $248.29.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $252.29 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The business's 50 day moving average price is $241.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $216.81. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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