Bank & Trust Co Acquires New Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 12,824 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,701,000. Apple makes up 2.3% of Bank & Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc bought a new stake in Apple in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apple by 17.9% during the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 206,455 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 31,278 shares in the last quarter. A.P. Gilfoyle & Co. L.P. bought a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. Gilfoyle & Co LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 168.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC now owns 268 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. lifted its stake in Apple by 657.1% in the 4th quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Managment Co. now owns 424 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 60.41% of the company’s stock.

Apple Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ AAPL opened at $227.18 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.33, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.24. 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 $237.23. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $220.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $194.75.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $85.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 145.35%. The company’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 6.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.55%.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Apple from $240.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Cfra boosted their target price on Apple from $240.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Monday, July 1st. Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Apple from $190.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $233.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total value of $14,368,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Apple news, Director Arthur D. Levinson sold 75,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.58, for a total transaction of $14,368,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4,359,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $835,207,570.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total transaction of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,469,275. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 188,884 shares of company stock valued at $38,092,387. 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.