Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is CENTRAL TRUST Co’s Largest Position
CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its stake in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL – Free Report) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,083,432 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock after selling 254,636 shares during the period. Apple makes up about 6.6% of CENTRAL TRUST Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Apple were worth $271,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in AAPL. Drystone LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apple in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Bull Oak Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Apple by 252.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter worth $71,000. Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America purchased a new position in Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, ARK Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apple during the third quarter worth about $110,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Apple Trading Up 1.9 %
Shares of AAPL stock opened at $222.13 on Tuesday. Apple Inc. has a 1 year low of $164.08 and a 1 year high of $260.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 35.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $230.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $233.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.92.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The iPhone maker reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.36 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 24.30% and a return on equity of 160.83%. As a group, research analysts expect that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 EPS for the current year.
Apple Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.87%.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research analysts recently commented on AAPL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Apple from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Apple to $275.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Apple from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $230.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price objective on shares of Apple to $245.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Apple in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $245.52.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Apple
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.
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