Peoples Financial Services CORP. Sells 2,762 Shares of Apple Inc. $AAPL

Peoples Financial Services CORP. lowered its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,129 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,762 shares during the period. Apple makes up approximately 4.6% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Smith Salley Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.1% in the second quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management now owns 406,816 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $83,466,000 after buying an additional 8,355 shares in the last quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 7.3% in the second quarter. Addenda Capital Inc. now owns 158,901 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $32,602,000 after buying an additional 10,819 shares in the last quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 2.3% in the second quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC now owns 10,715 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $2,198,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 4.8% in the second quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,944 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $5,528,000 after buying an additional 1,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 12.5% in the second quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC now owns 133,497 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,390,000 after buying an additional 14,791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AAPL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Apple from $300.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Apple from $255.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $248.29.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,181,866.93. This represents a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total value of $33,375,798.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $842,412,558.95. The trade was a 3.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 254,922 shares of company stock worth $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:AAPL opened at $247.77 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. Apple Inc. has a 52-week low of $169.21 and a 52-week high of $260.10. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Apple Dividend Announcement

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