FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Acquires 7,241 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 149,094 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,241 shares during the period. Apple comprises 7.6% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 611,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $117,639,000 after acquiring an additional 17,249 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson grew its stake in Apple by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 30,677 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,906,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth about $7,222,000. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in Apple by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 51,763 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $9,969,000 after buying an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 168.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 268 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $173.03 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $181.57. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $199.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.07. The company has a market cap of $2.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.26.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $117.99 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.16% and a return on equity of 156.04%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 16th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 14.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,788 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Luca Maestri sold 53,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.12, for a total transaction of $9,262,139.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,788 shares in the company, valued at $18,768,046.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares in the company, valued at $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on AAPL. Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Apple from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $195.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their target price on Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.62.

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.