Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Position Increased by Community Trust & Investment Co.

Community Trust & Investment Co. grew its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 366,602 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 3,134 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.2% of Community Trust & Investment Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Community Trust & Investment Co.'s holdings in Apple were worth $81,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apple by 3.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apple by 1.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 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 stake in shares of 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 valued at $26,220,566,000 after buying an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on AAPL. KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays set a $173.00 price target on shares of Apple and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.11.

Insider Activity at Apple

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded up $0.85 during trading on Thursday, reaching $215.00. 26,462,465 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 56,728,691. The stock has a market cap of $3.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.46, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.20. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $204.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's management 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.