Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s 3rd Largest Position

Mechanics Bank Trust Department cut its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 146,321 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,924 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for approximately 4.4% of Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Apple were worth $30,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of AAPL. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the first quarter worth $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the first quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares during the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its position in shares of Apple by 657.1% during the fourth quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clarity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $85,000. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson upgraded Apple from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $200.00 to $230.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Apple from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Raymond James raised their price target on Apple from $200.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Apple from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Tigress Financial raised their price target on Apple from $245.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.62.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,542,136.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 5,178 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.50, for a total value of $1,121,037.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,125 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,223,062.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,884 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,887 in the last three months. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apple Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $220.85 on Thursday. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.23. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 34.35, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day moving average of $222.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $196.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.43 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 147.15% and a net margin of 26.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.7 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is 15.55%.

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.