Home Federal Bank of Tennessee Grows Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Home Federal Bank of Tennessee lifted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,357 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 1.9% of Home Federal Bank of Tennessee’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Home Federal Bank of Tennessee’s holdings in Apple were worth $6,299,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter worth about $1,877,000. First National Bank of Hutchinson increased its stake in shares of Apple by 24.6% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 35,319 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $8,845,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares during the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 27,298 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $6,836,000 after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apple by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 54,085 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,544,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apple by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 21,617 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $5,413,000 after purchasing an additional 1,280 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Down 0.6%

AAPL opened at $211.16 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $203.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $217.41.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94.04 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 167.24% and a net margin of 24.30%. The company’s revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This is a boost from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.20%.

Apple declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 1st that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $270.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays set a $173.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,486 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.19, for a total transaction of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,233,815.27. This represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.