FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Grows Position in Apple Inc. $AAPL

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 142,621 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after buying an additional 13,009 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 6.2% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Apple were worth $29,262,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Salus Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Apple by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Salus Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,310 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Sharpepoint LLC raised its position in Apple by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Sharpepoint LLC now owns 1,523 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp raised its position in Apple by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 8,720 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,184,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC raised its position in Apple by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Mission Hills Financial Advisory LLC now owns 4,016 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $892,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. raised its position in Apple by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Virginia Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 20,946 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $4,298,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apple

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total transaction of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 179,158 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 254,922 shares of company stock valued at $64,320,190. 0.06% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on AAPL. Morgan Stanley set a $298.00 target price on Apple and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, July 25th. Wedbush set a $310.00 price target on Apple and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, September 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.29.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL opened at $247.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $240.67 and a 200-day moving average of $216.66. The company has a market cap of $3.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.09. Apple Inc. has a one year low of $169.21 and a one year high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.14. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.40 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Investors 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 yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Apple Company 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.