Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) Holdings Reduced by CoreFirst Bank & Trust

CoreFirst Bank & Trust lowered its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 55,626 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,474 shares during the quarter. Apple accounts for about 7.1% of CoreFirst Bank & Trust’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. CoreFirst Bank & Trust’s holdings in Apple were worth $10,710,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hart & Patterson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 4th quarter worth approximately $755,000. Skyline Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the 4th quarter worth $5,010,000. BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter worth $4,584,000. VanderPol Investments L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Apple during the fourth quarter valued at $653,000. Finally, Walden Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Apple in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,065,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AAPL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Apple from $220.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 4th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Apple from $200.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apple has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $207.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apple

In related news, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total transaction of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,999 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.40, for a total transaction of $951,809.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,278 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,574,531.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Deirdre O’brien sold 54,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.91, for a total value of $9,244,782.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 136,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,068,376.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 346,270 shares of company stock worth $60,880,196 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $216.67 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $220.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $184.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $184.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.25.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The iPhone maker reported $1.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $90.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $90.37 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 148.33% and a net margin of 26.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apple Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. This is a positive change from Apple’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 10th. Apple’s payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

Apple declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 2nd that authorizes the company to repurchase $110.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.