Colonial Trust Advisors Lowers Holdings in Apple Inc. $AAPL

Colonial Trust Advisors lowered its stake in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 379,092 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 121 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 7.5% of Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Apple were worth $84,208,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,400,790,809 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $311,157,662,000 after purchasing an additional 5,005,297 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apple by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 340,164,913 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $84,999,145,000 after purchasing an additional 6,307,413 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,868,648,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Apple by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after acquiring an additional 20,079,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Apple by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 104,706,358 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $26,220,566,000 after acquiring an additional 13,137,968 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AAPL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (up from $230.00) on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Melius Research set a $290.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $240.00 target price on shares of Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $242.16.

Insider Activity at Apple

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

Apple Stock Down 3.2%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $226.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a current ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.37 trillion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.11. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $220.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $212.60.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $94.04 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $88.64 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.78%.

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.