American Trust Sells 2,435 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

American Trust cut its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,857 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,435 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 1.4% of American Trust’s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest position. American Trust’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apple by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,332 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,337,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 3,368.2% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 451,489 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $113,062,000 after buying an additional 438,471 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Apple by 12.4% in the fourth quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 764,075 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $192,700,000 after purchasing an additional 83,997 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apple by 9.2% in the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,308,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berkshire Bank lifted its stake in Apple by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 89,580 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $22,433,000 after acquiring an additional 2,360 shares during the period. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 191,507 shares of company stock valued at $42,694,080. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $170.62 price objective (up from $167.88) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, China Renaissance initiated coverage on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $241.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $234.86.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $196.58 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.94 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.22. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $260.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $202.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $222.00.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 167.24%. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.53 earnings per share. Apple’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 1st that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the iPhone maker to reacquire up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

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.