FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH Has $31.91 Million Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 127,440 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 3,110 shares during the period. Apple comprises 7.9% of FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest position. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Apple were worth $31,914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apple by 252.3% during the third quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Apple in the second quarter worth approximately $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc raised its position in Apple by 88.9% in the third quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in shares of Apple during the 3rd quarter valued at $77,000. Institutional investors own 67.73% of the company’s stock.

Apple Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of AAPL stock opened at $238.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 trillion, a P/E ratio of 37.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $239.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $233.85. Apple Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $164.07 and a fifty-two week high of $260.10.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. Equities research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.97, for a total transaction of $24,997,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 389,944 shares in the company, valued at $97,474,301.68. The trade was a 20.41 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Apple to $250.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th. Maxim Group upped their target price on shares of Apple to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Morgan Stanley set a $275.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Loop Capital cut shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.88.

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.