Eastern Bank Has $255.05 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Eastern Bank raised its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,148,191 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,830 shares during the period. Apple accounts for approximately 5.0% of Eastern Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $255,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Squire Investment Management Company LLC raised its position in Apple by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Squire Investment Management Company LLC now owns 6,829 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,517,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 2.9% during the first quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 385,015 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $85,523,000 after buying an additional 11,007 shares during the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Apple by 1.5% during the first quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC now owns 59,312 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,175,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. Independence Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apple during the first quarter valued at $1,470,000. Finally, Golden Reserve Retirement LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $828,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on AAPL. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Apple from $173.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $239.05.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $239.78 on Friday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $260.10. The company has a market cap of $3.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $218.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $212.89.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 34,821 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.20, for a total transaction of $7,772,047.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 136,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,508,538.40. This represents a 20.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.