Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Increases Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 190,739 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,851 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises 2.8% of Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Apple were worth $40,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Verus Financial Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Apple by 0.3% during the second quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 16,929 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisory boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisory now owns 1,364 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Core Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,968 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $625,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Lowery Thomas LLC now owns 7,607 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 4,505 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $949,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Price Performance

AAPL stock opened at $231.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 0.95. Apple Inc. has a 52 week low of $164.07 and a 52 week high of $237.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $226.86 and its 200 day moving average is $210.34. The firm has a market cap of $3.55 trillion, a P/E ratio of 35.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.24.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.34 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $85.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.43 billion. Apple had a net margin of 26.44% and a return on equity of 147.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.26 EPS. Research analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Apple Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Apple’s payout ratio is currently 15.55%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AAPL has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $256.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Apple to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Maxim Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $203.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $285.00 price objective on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Apple from $265.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apple has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Apple news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total value of $50,275,897.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 100,000 shares of Apple stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $206.44, for a total transaction of $20,644,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 191,543 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,542,136.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 517,924 shares of company stock valued at $114,786,399 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

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.