Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Raises Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,369 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 17,755 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 3.2% of Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC's holdings in Apple were worth $57,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Apple by 18.4% in the 4th quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 121,788 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $30,498,000 after buying an additional 18,929 shares in the last quarter. Capital Management Corp VA raised its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Management Corp VA now owns 3,822 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,847,000. Hamilton Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,734,000. Finally, Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 27,433 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $6,870,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 38,822 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.67, for a total value of $8,683,316.74. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 179,158 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,072,269.86. This trade represents a 17.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total value of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares of the company's stock, valued at $733,637,976.75. The trade was a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Stock Performance

AAPL opened at $202.09 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.02 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $205.64 and a 200-day moving average of $226.26.

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

Apple declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is 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 issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an "underperform" rating and issued a $170.62 price target (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Argus upgraded shares of Apple to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.80.

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.