Apple Inc. $AAPL Shares Sold by First Merchants Corp

First Merchants Corp lessened its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,726 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 11,894 shares during the quarter. Apple makes up 1.7% of First Merchants Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Apple were worth $44,055,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in AAPL. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 573,627.2% in the second quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 205,692,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $39,065,374,000 after purchasing an additional 205,656,808 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth $17,472,482,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Apple by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 171,385,531 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $42,918,365,000 after purchasing an additional 20,079,472 shares during the period. Amundi increased its position in shares of Apple by 27.4% in the first quarter. Amundi now owns 68,190,569 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $13,870,795,000 after purchasing an additional 14,651,321 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 14.3% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 13,137,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 129,963 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.81, for a total transaction of $33,375,798.03. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 43,013 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $257.39, for a total value of $11,071,116.07. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 136,687 shares in the company, valued at $35,181,866.93. The trade was a 23.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 259,121 shares of company stock valued at $65,358,981. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Performance

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $270.37 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $248.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.34. Apple Inc. has a 12 month low of $169.21 and a 12 month high of $277.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.01 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.03, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.74 by $0.11. Apple had a return on equity of 170.91% and a net margin of 24.30%.The firm had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on AAPL. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Apple in a research note on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Apple from $220.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America raised their price objective on Apple from $270.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $290.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $276.39.

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.