Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Stake Reduced by Hills Bank & Trust Co

Hills Bank & Trust Co trimmed its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 132,071 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,084 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up about 2.5% of Hills Bank & Trust Co's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Hills Bank & Trust Co's holdings in Apple were worth $33,073,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth approximately $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total transaction of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. The trade was a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the business'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 directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL traded up $4.87 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $200.14. The stock had a trading volume of 31,401,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,160,519. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $204.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.71. The stock has a market cap of $2.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 31.76, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.53 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple announced that its board has approved 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 buy up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's payout ratio is 16.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on AAPL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer cut Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. KeyCorp raised Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $235.80.

About Apple

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.