Citizens National Bank Trust Department Reduces Stock Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Citizens National Bank Trust Department trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 0.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 123,433 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 433 shares during the period. Apple comprises approximately 6.1% of Citizens National Bank Trust Department’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Citizens National Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Apple were worth $28,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bull Oak Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% in the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its stake in Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Cordant Inc. grew its position in Apple by 34.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cordant Inc. now owns 678 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $158,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EMC Capital Management grew its position in Apple by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 892 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In related news, insider Chris Kondo sold 4,130 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.87, for a total value of $945,233.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,528,946.53. This represents a 21.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total value of $24,997,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.06% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apple Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $245.00 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.70 trillion, a P/E ratio of 40.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.20. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $239.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $229.33. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The company had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on AAPL shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Apple to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $205.00 to $212.92 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $236.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.03.

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.