Missouri Trust & Investment Co Sells 346 Shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Missouri Trust & Investment Co lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 134,941 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 346 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 10.5% of Missouri Trust & Investment Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Missouri Trust & Investment Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. Pillar Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $82,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $96,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp raised Apple from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Monday, April 14th. Scotiabank lowered Apple to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apple from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.11.

Apple Stock Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $211.18 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $204.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.85. Apple Inc. has a twelve month low of $169.21 and a twelve month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. This is an increase from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.20%.

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

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, 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 value of $933,940.34. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,533 shares in the company, valued at $3,233,815.27. This trade represents a 22.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total value of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 4,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $941,214. This trade represents a 50.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.