Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s Largest Position

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 348,559 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,885 shares during the period. Apple accounts for 6.6% of Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Apple were worth $67,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of AAPL. Center For Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 53.3% in the second quarter. Center For Asset Management LLC now owns 21,898 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,247,000 after acquiring an additional 7,616 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 8.3% in the first quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 785,000 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $129,447,000 after acquiring an additional 60,000 shares during the period. Arista Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.0% in the first quarter. Arista Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,680 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,399,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.3% in the first quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 3,919,534 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $646,332,000 after acquiring an additional 89,615 shares during the period. Finally, My Personal CFO LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.1% in the second quarter. My Personal CFO LLC now owns 26,276 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,097,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 58.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 31,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.69, for a total value of $5,661,792.65. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,661 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,237,944.09. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 69,785 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.00, for a total value of $12,351,945.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 489,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $86,697,609. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Luca Maestri sold 31,685 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.69, for a total value of $5,661,792.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,661 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,237,944.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 439,585 shares of company stock valued at $76,485,550. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on AAPL shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Apple in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $195.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $210.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies boosted their price target on Apple from $180.00 to $220.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $197.82.

Apple Trading Up 1.5 %

AAPL opened at $179.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $176.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $179.55. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $124.17 and a one year high of $198.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.98.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.46 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $89.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $89.34 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 164.92% and a net margin of 24.68%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.05 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is 15.69%.

Apple 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.