Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Shares Acquired by Sabal Trust CO

Sabal Trust CO boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 189,421 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 5,078 shares during the period. Apple makes up 2.7% of Sabal Trust CO's holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Sabal Trust CO's holdings in Apple were worth $47,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Amara Financial LLC. purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $288,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 12.8% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 253,743 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $59,122,000 after purchasing an additional 28,799 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc raised its stake in shares of Apple by 10.1% in the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 375,539 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $87,501,000 after purchasing an additional 34,414 shares during the last quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 32.9% during the third quarter. 5th Street Advisors LLC now owns 15,100 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $3,518,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the period. Finally, Simmons Bank boosted its position in Apple by 1.6% in the third quarter. Simmons Bank now owns 132,641 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $30,905,000 after buying an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer cut shares of Apple from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Redburn Partners set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $235.80.

Apple Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL traded down $2.25 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $196.26. 67,172,446 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,184,954. The company's 50-day moving average is $210.55 and its 200-day moving average is $228.13. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.27. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This is a positive change from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. Apple's payout ratio is presently 16.20%.

Apple announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $941,214. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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 a total of 187,021 shares of company stock valued at $41,760,140 over the last quarter. 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.