First Financial Bank Trust Division Trims Stock Position in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

First Financial Bank Trust Division trimmed its holdings in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 142,114 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 2,789 shares during the period. Apple accounts for about 3.0% of First Financial Bank Trust Division’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Apple were worth $33,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Apple by 127.4% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 75,479 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $12,943,000 after purchasing an additional 42,282 shares in the last quarter. Independent Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Independent Family Office LLC now owns 6,529 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $1,120,000 after buying an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Apple by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,007 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $2,402,000 after buying an additional 1,860 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 1.8% during the first quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 299,940 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $51,434,000 after acquiring an additional 5,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forbes Financial Planning Inc. grew its stake in Apple by 4.0% in the first quarter. Forbes Financial Planning Inc. now owns 22,660 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $3,886,000 after acquiring an additional 865 shares during the period. 60.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apple Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of Apple stock opened at $228.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.83. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $217.00. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.07 and a 1 year high of $237.49. The company has a market capitalization of $3.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 EPS. Apple’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 EPS for the current year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s payout ratio is 16.45%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $245.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $250.00 price target on shares of Apple in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $236.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Maxim Group raised their price objective on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, New Street Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $225.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-two have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Apple currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $235.51.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total value of $13,802,497.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 187,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,309,126.60. The trade was a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 404,040 shares of company stock worth $91,062,512. Company 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.