Heartland Bank & Trust Co boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 20.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 62,844 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after purchasing an additional 10,736 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises approximately 7.2% of Heartland Bank & Trust Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Heartland Bank & Trust Co's holdings in Apple were worth $13,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson raised its stake in shares of Apple by 24.6% during 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 during the period. Capital & Planning LLC raised its stake in Apple by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,836,000 after acquiring an additional 2,647 shares during the period. Eagle Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Apple by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 537,314 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $134,554,000 after acquiring an additional 69,207 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on AAPL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their target price on Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $237.25.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Apple
Apple Trading Down 2.5%
NASDAQ AAPL traded down $5.19 on Friday, reaching $202.38. 97,423,066 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 44,912,472. The business's fifty day moving average price is $205.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $213.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.02 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $169.21 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Apple had a return on equity of 172.48% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.40 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's dividend payout ratio is 16.20%.
Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the sale, the insider owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
About Apple
(
Free Report)
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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