First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Increases Stake in Apple Inc. $AAPL

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 621,827 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,661 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.0% of First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Apple were worth $127,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in AAPL. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. increased its position in Apple by 13.2% during the second quarter. Financial Futures Ltd Liability Co. now owns 3,552 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the last quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Apple by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 62,001 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $13,772,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust grew its position in Apple by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 195,482 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $40,107,000 after acquiring an additional 4,543 shares during the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apple by 209.2% in the first quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,507,000 after purchasing an additional 4,591 shares during the period. Finally, Plum Street Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apple by 4.0% during the first quarter. Plum Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,889 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Apple from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. DA Davidson increased their price target on Apple from $250.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Apple from $298.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. CLSA upgraded shares of Apple to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Apple from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.22.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 47,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $256.79, for a total value of $12,101,228.75. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 179,158 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,005,982.82. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,199 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.39, for a total value of $1,038,790.61. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 8,765 shares in the company, valued at $2,168,373.35. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 228,052 shares of company stock valued at $58,604,588 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ AAPL opened at $271.49 on Monday. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $169.21 and a 52 week high of $277.32. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $259.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market cap of $4.01 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The iPhone maker reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.74 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $102.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $101.65 billion. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 170.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.92%.

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.