CENTRAL TRUST Co Decreases Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,063,195 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 20,237 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.8% of CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings, making the stock its biggest position. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Apple were worth $236,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 24.6% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after purchasing an additional 69,207 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $234.94.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $213.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 38,805,177 shares, compared to its average volume of 49,464,392. Apple Inc. has a 1-year low of $169.21 and a 1-year high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.31, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a current ratio of 0.82. The firm's 50-day moving average is $204.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $214.58.

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

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were given 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 dividend yield of 0.49%. This is a boost from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. Apple's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

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.