Greenleaf Trust Sells 54,341 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Key Points

• Greenleaf Trust has reduced its holdings in Apple Inc. by 7.5%, selling 54,341 shares, and now owns 673,239 shares valued at approximately $138 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Kingstone Capital Partners and Nuveen LLC, have made significant increases to their stakes in Apple, showcasing strong interest in the stock.
• Apple's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $1.57 EPS and $94.04 billion in revenue, leading analysts to maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $248.29.

Greenleaf Trust cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 673,239 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 54,341 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.2% of Greenleaf Trust's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Greenleaf Trust's holdings in Apple were worth $138,128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $39,065,374,000 after buying an additional 205,656,808 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter valued at $17,472,482,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 59,835,676 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Apple by 27.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 68,190,569 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $13,870,795,000 after buying an additional 14,651,321 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 10th. Wedbush set a $310.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 10th. Finally, Loop Capital reduced their price objective on shares of Apple from $230.00 to $226.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.29.

Apple Trading Up 2.0%

Shares of Apple stock opened at $252.29 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $241.13 and a 200-day moving average of $216.86. The stock has a market cap of $3.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 38.28, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The business 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%.Apple's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% 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, SVP Deirdre O'brien sold 43,013 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total transaction of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares of the company's stock, valued at $35,181,866.93. This trade represents a 23.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 in the last ninety days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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