Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Sabal Trust CO's 5th Largest Position

Key Points

• Sabal Trust CO increased its stake in Apple Inc. by 4.7%, owning 198,351 shares valued at approximately $44 million, making Apple its 5th largest position.
• Apple's recent quarterly earnings surpassed estimates with an EPS of $1.57 and revenues of $94.04 billion, showing a 9.6% year-over-year increase.
• The company has initiated a $100 billion stock repurchase program and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, highlighting confidence in its stock value.

Sabal Trust CO raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 198,351 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after acquiring an additional 8,930 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 2.4% of Sabal Trust CO's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Sabal Trust CO's holdings in Apple were worth $44,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Burkett Financial Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 14,401 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,199,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Avid Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. Avid Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,211 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $935,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $2,337,000 after buying an additional 409 shares during the period. TruWealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apple by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 189,282 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $42,045,000 after buying an additional 5,120 shares during the period. Finally, Allstate Corp grew its stake in shares of Apple by 3,368.2% in the 4th quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $113,062,000 after buying an additional 438,471 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company's stock.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL traded up $9.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $229.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 113,661,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,719,256. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $3.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.16. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The business's fifty day moving average price is $206.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $213.21.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. Apple's quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AAPL. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Apple from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $237.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. The trade was a 22.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company's stock.

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.