Berkshire Bank Has $18.64 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Berkshire Bank cut its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 96,796 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,107 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 4.9% of Berkshire Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Berkshire Bank’s holdings in Apple were worth $18,636,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its stake in Apple by 20.0% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 2,615,701 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $456,728,000 after buying an additional 435,891 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its stake in Apple by 0.4% during the first quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 240,628 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $42,016,000 after buying an additional 1,040 shares during the last quarter. Markel Corp raised its position in Apple by 0.7% during the first quarter. Markel Corp now owns 1,206,990 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $210,752,000 after purchasing an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Camden Capital LLC raised its position in Apple by 9.2% during the first quarter. Camden Capital LLC now owns 156,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $27,305,000 after purchasing an additional 13,200 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Island Capital LLC raised its position in Apple by 0.3% during the first quarter. Harbor Island Capital LLC now owns 135,325 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $23,629,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apple Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $165.00 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $174.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.17. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $162.80 and a 12-month high of $199.62.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The iPhone maker reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.09 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $119.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $117.99 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 156.04% and a net margin of 26.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.88 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Apple from $189.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “neutral” rating and set a $189.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Apple from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Redburn Partners downgraded Apple to a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $203.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total transaction of $18,094,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 99,183 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.03, for a total value of $16,864,085.49. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,377,407 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $574,260,512.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.94, for a total value of $18,094,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,434,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $802,392,181.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 366,271 shares of company stock valued at $63,653,887. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.