Old North State Trust LLC Boosts Stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Old North State Trust LLC boosted its position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 43,991 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares during the period. Apple comprises about 8.0% of Old North State Trust LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $9,265,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Access Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the first quarter worth about $140,000. Hoese & Co LLP raised its position in shares of Apple by 6.7% in the second quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 912 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $175,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Sage Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Benchmark Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Apple in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. 60.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of Apple stock opened at $224.23 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $226.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $214.68. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $164.07 and a 12-month high of $237.49. The firm has a market cap of $3.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 36.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. Apple had a return on equity of 152.94% and a net margin of 23.97%. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.46 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apple news, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the business’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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 59,730 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.86, for a total value of $13,550,347.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 489,944 shares in the company, valued at $111,148,695.84. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chris Kondo sold 8,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.00, for a total value of $1,958,850.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares in the company, valued at $3,469,275. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 412,746 shares of company stock valued at $93,021,362 over the last quarter. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on AAPL. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $285.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Melius Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $265.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on Apple to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt restated a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, twenty-two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.51.

Apple Company 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.