CoreFirst Bank & Trust Reduces Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• CoreFirst Bank & Trust reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 4.4%, owning a total of 47,174 shares worth approximately $10.48 million.
• In the most recent quarter, institutional investors such as Norges Bank and Vanguard Group Inc. significantly increased their positions in Apple, with Vanguard owning over 1.39 billion shares.
• Apple's earnings report exceeded analysts' expectations, reporting $1.57 earnings per share and $94.04 billion in revenue for the quarter, reflecting a 9.6% year-over-year increase.

CoreFirst Bank & Trust cut its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,174 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 2,164 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 6.7% of CoreFirst Bank & Trust's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. CoreFirst Bank & Trust's holdings in Apple were worth $10,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson lifted its position in Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the period. Capital & Planning LLC lifted its position in Apple by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $134,554,000 after buying an additional 69,207 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 34,821 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $240.00 price objective (up previously from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.98.

Apple Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of AAPL stock traded up $2.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $227.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 42,431,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 61,854,304. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $212.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.96. The company has a market cap of $3.38 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. The company's revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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.