Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Sold by Moody National Bank Trust Division

Moody National Bank Trust Division trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,618 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 1,479 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.6% of Moody National Bank Trust Division's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Moody National Bank Trust Division's holdings in Apple were worth $34,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $96,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up previously from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price objective on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $234.39.

Apple Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of AAPL traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $201.08. The stock had a trading volume of 73,093,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 53,360,608. The company has a market cap of $3.00 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.22. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $202.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $220.03. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

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

Apple announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, 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.