NBT Bank N A NY Decreases Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

NBT Bank N A NY lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 291,783 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after selling 23,276 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 5.1% of NBT Bank N A NY's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. NBT Bank N A NY's holdings in Apple were worth $73,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Life Planning Partners Inc acquired a new position in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new stake in Apple in the third quarter valued at about $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new position in shares of Apple in the third quarter worth about $77,000. Finally, Pillar Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $82,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer lowered shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday. Rosenblatt Securities cut Apple from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $217.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Apple from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $235.80.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 108,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.65, for a total transaction of $24,184,616.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at $733,637,976.75. This represents a 3.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total transaction of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 390,059 shares in the company, valued at $87,377,116.59. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.9%

Apple stock traded down $1.92 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $206.86. The stock had a trading volume of 42,411,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 55,903,925. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $205.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $226.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.09 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.83, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.88.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple's dividend payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

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

About Apple

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.