Berkshire Bank Sells 11,599 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Berkshire Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) by 10.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 103,640 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,599 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 4.1% of Berkshire Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Berkshire Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $13,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Robinson Value Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apple by 75.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hanseatic Management Services Inc. now owns 249 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. HBC Financial Services PLLC increased its position in Apple by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 448 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Align Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Apple by 14,693.8% in the 3rd quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 6,024,330 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 5,983,608 shares during the period. 57.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

AAPL has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on Apple from $177.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Cowen lowered their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $195.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Apple from $173.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $170.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, May 2nd. Finally, Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $184.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and twenty-seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.29.

Apple Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $172.07 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $124.17 and a 1 year high of $176.15. The company has a market cap of $2.71 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.21, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $149.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The iPhone maker reported $1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.08. Apple had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 165.72%. The firm had revenue of $94.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $92.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6 EPS for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 12th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.23. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 16.30%.

Apple declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 4th that allows the company to repurchase $90.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to repurchase up to 3.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total transaction of $29,991,744.80. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $78,253,004.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,622 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.41, for a total value of $7,215,515.02. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 136,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,569,202.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 187,730 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.76, for a total value of $29,991,744.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,816 shares in the company, valued at $78,253,004.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 439,529 shares of company stock valued at $71,703,657. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apple Profile

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Apple, Inc engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables and accessories, and other varieties of related services. It operates through the following geographical segments: Americas, Europe, Greater China, Japan, and Rest of Asia Pacific. The Americas segment includes North and South America.