Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Bought by First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 615,166 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 11,990 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 2.3% of First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $136,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group set a $210.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $230.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. This represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $1.27 during trading on Thursday, hitting $212.41. The company had a trading volume of 44,333,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,446,789. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $203.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.03. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.17 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. Apple's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.