Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Lowered by Trust Co of the South

Trust Co of the South decreased its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,662 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 4,039 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 4.0% of Trust Co of the South's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Trust Co of the South's holdings in Apple were worth $19,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,395,785,512 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $349,532,608,000 after purchasing an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apple by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $84,999,145,000 after buying an additional 6,307,413 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter valued at $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Apple by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after buying an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 14.3% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $201.50 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $3.01 trillion, a P/E ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.22. The business's 50 day moving average price is $202.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $221.12.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding 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 often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated an "underperform" rating and set a $170.62 target price (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.86.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.