WASHINGTON TRUST Co Has $122.79 Million Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co decreased its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 552,787 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 44,998 shares during the period. Apple makes up 4.7% of WASHINGTON TRUST Co's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. WASHINGTON TRUST Co's holdings in Apple were worth $122,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $46,868,648,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Apple by 25,934.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 60,066,398 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $133,425,490,000 after acquiring an additional 59,835,676 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 49,168,843 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Apple by 23,555.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 21,055,240 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $5,272,653,000 after acquiring an additional 20,966,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Apple from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $237.60.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL traded down $1.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $231.59. 56,003,275 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 63,552,584. The stock has a market cap of $3.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $209.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.14. 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, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.78%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This trade represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.