Apple Inc. $AAPL Stake Increased by Plimoth Trust Co. LLC

Plimoth Trust Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 108,508 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 5.3% of Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $22,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ryan Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1,800.0% during the 1st quarter. ROSS JOHNSON & Associates LLC now owns 190 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Elite Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $58,000. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 4th quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 1st quarter valued at about $99,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Apple from $245.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, September 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apple from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $252.83.

Apple Price Performance

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $268.81 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $269.12. The stock has a market cap of $3.99 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.79, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50 day moving average is $244.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $220.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25.

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

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 11th were paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 11th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 3,280,295 shares in the company, valued at approximately $842,412,558.95. This trade represents a 3.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total transaction of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 259,121 shares of company stock worth $65,358,981 in the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.